Gratitude is a hard word to pronounce it seems, not because it is a fancy word that only dignitaries use, but because unlike most words, to practice it takes pronouncing it from the back portion of our minds, where everything we have neglected sits around and waits to feel useful again. It is not put there because it has no value, on the contrary, its value is immeasurable, it's there because we as the vessel that stores it have a hard time looking at it, especially when we are active in our addiction. Is this because we have learned to expect, and feel we are owed instant gratification, without any acknowledgement of what gift, favor, or kind gesture has been bestowed upon us?

I know that in my life this has been true. It's hard to stand straight with integrity knowing fully that we are indebted to the beautiful gift of life, and that every day we get a little closer to understanding the profundity of it all. In my life there were times when I thanked someone for something minuscule and cursed another for giving me riches because the expectation and timing I envisioned didn't fit within my selfish timeline. How foolish are we to be surrounded by so many blessings and neglect them?

Gratitude must be practiced daily for it to be affective. For some, it's thanking their higher power at every turn, for others, it's practicing humility. I have tried in my life to be grateful for the blessings I have, but I know that I fall short, as we all do, and that's okay. The point is to practice it every day, and if you find you come to a turn that makes you feel uncomfortable, that's okay too, because sometimes gratitude feels like that.

Yes, gratitude is a hard word to pronounce, even harder to pronounce alone, that's why every person we come in contact with completes the word for us.