Reading this post reminded me of something I read recently in a book called, "Radical Hospitality", by Homan and Pratt.  Here it is:
"Gratitude is at the center of a hospitable heart.  It keeps everything in perspective.  Often we allow day after gifted day to come and go without one sigh of gratitude for the beauty of it all.  We don't slow our breath to hear the song of the wind, or taste the miracle of an apple.  We take for granted the health of the little ones who sleep in their beds, and we assume the one who loves me today will be here to love me again tomorrow.  What an arrogant life we lead....
Gratitude is what you feel on the perfect summer day with the wind in your face and the sun on your shoulder, as the laughter of someone you love kisses your ear....
Gratitude, like faith, is given to you.  It springs on you.  It knocks the wind out of you just when everything seed impossible."