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Appreciation must not wait until we have all we want or everything we think we need. To appreciate life means we start by assessing what we’ve already got or already have had as having value, knowing that even our breath and heart beating this day is reason for our gratitude. Often we become so empowered by our desires and wants that we forget to be thankful and content in all that in which we’ve already been blessed! 
Every day of life, every friend who walked beside us, every supportive and loving family member, every day of sunshine, each day of rain, every beautiful flower we beheld and each phenomenon we treasured, every mile we journeyed and every adventure we made it through safely, every day of good health and every thing we’ve overcome, every passage and every milestone, every significant matter and all achievements, every gift and each staple of our daily provision . . each and every second of every day of all of our lives we’ve been given something in which to appreciate life and to celebrate with gratitude! If only we would look at the sum of our lives, not measuring it by only what we’ve lost or never had. If only we would see the sum of great treasure which we inherited at birth, were given over time, met as dear souls, came upon as gifts to us, or have already earned by our labor and efforts. So many people are caught in what they’ve not gotten, that they forget to appreciate fully all that they’ve had. Many are mourning what they had and lost, not realizing all they still have left around them. Many never know to be thankful for their abundance even though by comparison, they would surely be assessed as more than blessed; they might even covet others for what seems enviable in their lives! And many never know to see even their own breath and heartbeat as valuable; for in each breath and in every beating heart lies the seed of life’s potential and plentiful reasons for gratitude. 
It’s so easy to forget all that life has placed within our reach, focusing on all that we’ve yet to grasp. And it’s even easier to proclaim our lives as worthless, unproductive or valueless when we measure our joy or success in terms of what we’ve lost or never gained, or in comparison to what others have. With appreciation, with gratitude, all of life starts to take on value; we realize all in which we’ve been blessed, even what we once might have taken for granted . . our breath and our beating hearts, our being alive! When we view our own lives through the eyes of gratitude and appreciation, we no longer put all of our focus on things which deplete us of our overall joy, contentment and peace of mind. 
cherylriesauthor 