Hi Gimster, I'm so glad you are raising questions about gratitude. I had questions too when I first started practicing it. The truth is that gratitude is a choice. It is not a given. Most people don't think a lot about all the good that is in their lives all the time. We live in a negative society and are surrounded by people who complain and find fault and blame others etc. It's easy for us to get caught up in the same and not see the goodness. But then there's people like Anno who look for the good and really see the big picture and how much they have to be grateful for. Wasn't her answer wonderful? Every one of us is dealing with something in our lives that troubles us. At the same time goodness is always around us. We can't always see it when we are focused on the problem. It's like the different screens on a computer. When we are working on one screen we don't see the other, but it is still there and only has to be pulled up. That is what it's like with our minds. We can only think one thought at a time so if we are focusing on what we are grateful for, the other things disappear. What we focus on expands, so think good thoughts as much as you can and watch them expand. Try writing down five things a day for 30 days and see what happens. I hope this helps. Kathy