If you want to experience the deepest fulfilment that life on Earth has to offer, there is a key you must know about. I will explain…

During your life you will periodically receive gifts from the Universe. It may be a new person coming into your life, it may be a new location to live in, it may be a pet you find wandering homeless in the streets… These are just examples; it could be anything.

And the reason you know it is a gift is because it makes your life richer in some way. Perhaps you have more love in your life with a new partner, or you feel more content and secure in a new home, or you have more joy in your life with a new pet. If something enriches your life in some way, especially if it comes when you needed it most, then you know it is a gift.

Now the next part is the important part…

We all really value gifts when they first arrive. It’s something new; something we’ve not had before, something we’ve wanted.

But after time – especially when it comes to people – we usually start taking that gift for granted. We might even start complaining about the gift, finding fault with it, perhaps even wishing we hadn’t received it in the first place.

This is what stops our dreams coming true, because through deeply valuing and appreciating what we have in our life, life responds by bringing us up to a new level, where even greater gifts and fulfilment can be experienced. It’s the next level of life’s divine providence, and it is through gratitude that we access it. It is by deeply valuing and taking excellent care of the gifts we are given that we receive even greater gifts.

If Life can see that you appreciate and take good care of the gifts it gives you, it will give you bigger gifts. I have seen this play out over and over again in my own life over the past 25 years, so these aren’t just ideas or beliefs. This is how life actually works, and you will see it for yourself when you really start valuing and caring for the gifts that come into your life.

And every gift comes with challenges, which we need to help us grow. These challenges are the gift within the gift, that we didn’t know we needed. For example, every new relationship helps us to become a more loving, tolerant and forgiving person, because that the purpose of life: to be fully transformed by Love.

So we need the challenges that come with every gift. Especially because challenges reveal the true state of our character. It’s easy to be patient and kind when everything is going your way and flowing nicely. But what are you like under stress? Or when someone treats you rudely or disrespects you? How loving and forgiving are you then? How gentle is your nature then?

We know that the ideal is an unconditionally loving heart, and we have to believe that this is possible. Because it is possible. And the journey there is the most fulfilling journey you can undertake, because you will be the prime beneficiary of having a heart full of love, peace and gratitude.

The closer your heart is to this, the more fulfilment you will feel. The further your heart is, the less fulfilling life will be. Why? Because we are built for love and without love, life is empty and superficial. We all know this is true.

So really, the fulfilment of your dreams depends entirely upon the fulfilment of your heart.

Every day, be grateful for the good things you have in your life, especially if they challenge you to be a better person. Value deeply all the people that care about you, and treat them like the most precious gifts in the universe. Because anyone who is a bearer of love is an angel, a Godsend, a saviour even.

Life will reward you when it sees that you deeply value the gifts it brings you. It will bring you greater gifts, and the gratitude you feel will become deeper also. Living in a state of deep gratitude is like living in heaven, and you have an open invitation to go there. Just open your eyes to all the gifts you have in your life, and make it your priority to value them, take care of them and to be deeply thankful for them.

~Live in gratitude
http://AlexanderBell.org