(Distinctions are subtleties of language that, when gotten, cause a shift in a belief, behavior, value or attitude.)

 

Both are good, but appreciation is generally what you do when someone does something nice to you, so it’s specific to the event, it’s casual and it’s fairly polite.

Gratitude, though, is a place to come from that you do feel and sense all that you have and are, and are continually and repetitively grateful for what you have.

It’s feeling and sharing that level of gratitude for everything, vs. specific things, that often helps you be more attractive to what you most want.

To move from appreciative (or even resentful!) to grateful can take about a year, because when you’re grateful, you’re giving up and not requiring anything else in your life for you to be whole and complete and happy. And until the ego is handled, that kind of thinking might appear helpless or weak.

 

Copyright 1995 Steve Straus. All rights reserved.