Living Life as a Gift by Henri Nouwen

Gratitude goes beyond the ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past, I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to receiving something good from someone. But as I grow in the spiritual life, I am learning that the deeper meaning of gratitude is to live life as a gift. When you wake up in the morning, realize that being alive is a gift, that seeing a friend is a gift, that hearing the rain against the window is a gift. Everything is grace. - Quote by Henri Nouwen