grat·i·tude [grat-i-tood, -tyood] noun
- The quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful
- Thankfulness
— dictionary.com
Gratitude is one major key difference between people you wish to spend time with and those you wouldn’t choose to be around. Gratitude is a fundamental combatant of entitlement, one of the most pervasive and poisonous perceptions prevalent today. Gratitude assumes nothing is owed or free. Gratitude accepts its own dependence on someone or something else; be it big or small. Gratitude can’t thrive in arrogance. Showing true gratitude is a sign of strength and class. Consistently showing gratitude in all things puts a person in an elite class of highly desirable people in the eyes of their peers. Gratitude does not gossip, has no malice, won’t condemn, cannot envy, and is never shamed.
“Our philosophy has always been that if you empower each individual by giving them good choices, ease them to the outer reaches of their comfortable boundaries, and expect them to succeed, you foster an environment that is conducive to aiding each individual beyond their own anticipated limits.”
— Jeff Bryner, founder and co-owner of August Sun