Opening your eyes to all the opportunity around you can be difficult, especially these days as we all live very busy lives. Begin engaging with the process of recognizing and expressing gratitude which will allow you to systematically become keenly aware of where all your gifts have come from in the past and give you ideas where to look for future gifts.

It is not that the Universe requires you to make some sort of penance for your success – it’s not a punitive system. However, just like training negativity out of your mind, training yourself to be a “receiver” requires a systematic approach to retraining your mind into new patterns of thought. Whether it’s slouching or constantly focusing on what you don’t want, retraining yourself to see what is available to you from all possible angles is a skill that can only be acquired through practice.

Not only do you have your parents to thank for actually being here in the first place, but there are no doubt a great many people that made it possible for you to be the curious, thinking person you are today. The act of thinking back on your life and realizing the monumental contributions others have made towards your most modest successes is very valuable in actually creating, acknowledging and feeling sincere gratitude.

Even if the person in question was, “just doing their job,” you know you’d not be even as far as you are today if they hadn’t done their job that day or that year. Our society is an interconnected web of billions of people doing their jobs. Now, imagine how many more ties there are between people on a more fundamental level.

Thankfully, being grateful is easy. We attract opportunity to ourselves, first by thinking positively about what we want but more fundamentally; opportunities are created when someone feels good about you.  Telling someone you appreciate how his or her efforts have helped you out is a powerful way to become someone that people want to help out.

Therefore, the power that is inherent when you practice sincere gratitude is two-fold. Firstly, you’ll learn to spot benefit where you may not have even recognized it before. It will allow you to be more proactive about seizing opportunities as they arise. Secondly, letting people know you appreciate them will re-enforce the existing energetic connection between yourself and others who can help you in realizing your goals.