From the Introduction:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.
- Melody Beattie

I first began to think of gratitude as a philosophy of life, and spiritual practice, when I interviewed Balbir Mathur, co-founder of the non-profit Trees for Life, in the mid-1990s (see page 12). Its wisdom didn't immediately sink in. It is a spiritual practice, a journey with an elusive destination. As humans, we are, I am, hard-wired to find fault in myself and others. It stems I think from self-protectiveness. When we encounter unfairness or dishonesty, as others disappoint us, our first reaction is often to get upset, focus on it, even obsess over it. In the process, we lose sight of the gift that our brief existence on this planet truly is — a spark between two eternities.

Out of this growing realization twenty years ago, I, with my then partner Annie O'Shaughnessy, created the book The Heron Dance Book of Love & Gratitude. It was the most popular of the twelve books Heron Dance Press published. Since then, as the role of gratitude as a basic philosophy has grown in my life, the time seemed right to explore the subject in a deeper way. This book is the result. 

. . .

I dedicate this book to the memory of long-time Heron Dance subscriber and supporter Shirley Galliher. She personified, into her nineties, gratitude, happiness and open-mindedness. I’ve noticed that same cheerful optimism with others who live healthy, happy lives into their nineties. They focus on the positive. They have a sense of humor. They tend to be generous, kindhearted people. They tend to be not overly critical of themselves or others. They embrace life in all its beauty, majesty and disappointment.