Our entire lives are progressive journeys through stages of self-growth, in which we take continuous steps to evolve into more conscious creators of our own existence. On your personal journey, one of the greatest steps you can take is to learn the art of gratitude.

Gratitude is one of the highest and most empowering states you can achieve. Being grateful raises your entire state of being and truly magnetizes you to attract more positive energy into your life.

When you are grateful you feel joyful, satisfied and filled with heartfelt appreciation for what you have received and continue to receive. You basically tell the universe, "Thank you, this is wonderful - send me more please!" The universe dutifully responds to your request by sending you even more reasons to be grateful. It must respond in this way; universal law demands it.

Gratitude works from a purely psychological perspective too. If you are grateful, your mind is satisfied and your thought processes are settled and efficient. When you're grateful, you want for nothing - there is no urgency to "do-do-do" to produce results, and no reason to feel panicked or worried.

You can take action with calm efficiency, knowing that you will create a positive result no matter what... and even if the result is not exactly what you wanted, you will still be grateful. What's more, this detached, grateful approach actually increases your odds of getting what you want in the first place!

Here's how it works: the entire universe - both material and non-material - is made up of energy. The frequency at which this energy vibrates determines how it manifests (as stars, planets, minerals, gases, radio waves, electricity, magnetism, light, radiation and even thoughts, feelings and consciousness). Consciousness and its components - thoughts, feelings and the like - automatically impact energies on lower frequencies. In other words, your thoughts affect, and become, things.

By being grateful, you harmonize with the energies that create what you're grateful for... and that's what you continue to attract into your life. Keep it up consistently and you will find that it multiplies on itself: as your gratitude grows, so will the reasons that you have to be grateful.

The flip side of this is that when you are ungrateful, you send out negative energy. The universe has no concept of "good" or "bad" in this regard; it simply responds dutifully as always, and sends you more and more things to be ungrateful for. Again, this is simply universal law.

So the key is to focus on gratitude. Even in negative situations, there is always something to be grateful for - it depends on how you choose to perceive the situation and where you place your focus. Often, events that seem negative or even disastrous turn out to be some of the most beneficial experiences of our lives.

The most positive, enlightened and truly successful people are always grateful for what they have. By embracing your power of gratitude, you can do the same. So be grateful... there is always something to learn from every experience, and that gives you something to be grateful for right there. As you become more experienced at practicing consistent gratitude, you can get more creative. Be imaginative and, as always, have fun with it!

Author's Bio: 

Robin Bhattacharyya is an entrepreneur, writer, webmaster and musician based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. His website, Creating Life Abundance.com, is a great resource for anyone looking to improve their lives and the lives of others!

Robin's new e-book, Your Passion Point, is now available for sale at Creating Life Abundance.com. Click here for more info!