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Gratitude Works: Open Your Heart to Love

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Gratitude Works-Open Your Heart to Love is a small gift book with a beautiful cover that reflects the sentiments on the inside. Each section of the book, divided by month, has a theme: reflection, heart, balance, growth, beauty, love, nature, fun, transition, harvest, thanksgiving, and gifts. Each day has an entry with sentiments that vary from simple to profound: people who serve us, road signs that guide us, music and garden tools, to the power of song, living with integrity, or ancient wisdom.

Ever want to keep a gratitude journal? There's enough white space on these pages that you can add a little something each day. Gratitude Works is like a love note in book form. It's clear to me that the authors put a lot of heart into this book.

I wanted this book because I'm interested in teaching my children about gratitude. And I'm interested in expanding that quality in myself too. I'm too often quick to notice what's hard or what's not working and I want to notice more of the blessings in life. Sometimes when I sit with my family at the dinner table, we like to say what we're grateful for (why wait until Thanksgiving?).

This is the kind of book you can judge by its cover. It's feminine, nurturing, and poetic. It would make a sweet gift to give to someone you feel grateful for and a nice indulgence for yourself.

The two authors saw the Oprah show when Sarah Ban Breathnach talked about her book, Simple Abundance. She suggested that listeners keep a gratitude journal by writing down five things that they are grateful for. They did and Gratitude Works is the charming results.

"Gratitude," the authors say, "is a direct path to your heart. As we give thanks, we open our hearts to receive more live into our life."

Shine a spotlight on a your blessings!

I have found that many people need big things to be grateful for. I am sort of a small-stuff person, like a clear night so I can marvel at the humor of the Big Dipper when I walk the dog; a friend who calls when I need to hear a friendly voice; and for old traditions that tug at my heart and new traditions that need care to grow. Mushy stuff!

The authors, with their involvement in holistic healing and hospice work, really talk about the small stuff--and I loved it, and you will, too.

Following each day's headline are four lines that complete the thought of...I am so grateful for (a sampling):
-- Differences
-- Eternal optimism
-- Composure in tragedy
-- Serious conversation
-- Special greetings

Many are so special, but I guess my favorite is:
I am so grateful for a tug on my heartstrings.
I keep a loving memory in my heart
of the very last hug my mother gave me,
The older I am the more appreciative I become
Remembering my dear ones and how much I love them.

Armchair Interviews says: If you love to have an emotional tug or two, this day-by-day recap of gratitude is perfect you for and for gifts to someone you are grateful for in your life.

Gratitude Works

One of the things we as people seem to do regardless of faith is ask the powers to be to help us. Authors Katherine Scherer and Eileen Bodoh remind us of the things we should be grateful for and depending on your faith, give thanks.

This is different than any book we have ever read. A page for each day of the year covers many things we take for granted, giving us a new perspective of the world and life around us.

Following the 394 page daily would be the good start of anyones day, even though it was basically designed for women. Most men we have met would get a new perspective of life by using this book each day.

This multicultural book, is not a religious book, fits in to anyone's daily faith and will maybe give the hope and faith in something more just by reading its pages. It teaches us to be thankful not only for the great things in our lives, but the small ones we take for granted. This is not a page turner per say, but a page you will want to turn every morning!

Most Americans live their daily lives stressed out about family, money, jobs, and a myriad of other pressures. "Gratitude Works" is a book loaded with things in life to be grateful for: things most people take for granted until they're lost.

For each day of the year, "Gratitude Works" is the perfect gift book for those in your life who need to come back to center and focus on the positive aspects of their lives.

"Gratitude Works" is a book worth pondering to effectively advance change within one's life. A highly recommended read."

If you open "Gratitude Works: Open Your Heart to Love" to a random page, you might happen upon an appreciation of a simple aspect of life that makes you smile. For example, dog lovers will surely chuckle when reading the description of why the authors are grateful for a mischievous puppy. There are many such pages in this book of 365 reasons for gratitude.

But "Gratitude Works" operates on a much more sublime level as well. It's not just a collection of brief cutesy depictions of daily life. There is an order and a vision that rises far above the "cute" and "common" in this book. It is when you see and feel that vision that the simple gifts of life begin to seem extraordinary and wonderful.

The core of this book, in my view, is the vision that all things are bound together by love, which proceeds from God. And if we can only open our eyes to see it, then even simple things can begin to appear miraculous, we begin to see the miracle that life is. Gratitude is "A natural expression of a loving heart" we are told. "In giving thanks we heal the world and increase our abundance of blessings unknown."

But it's more complicated than that. Yes, "There's great potential in this material world." But since our "principles and ideas create reality" we all have a responsibility to choose proper principles that we will live by, and we must exercise care in selecting the ideas we will reward with our attention.

"Life is full of twists and turns, each of us has a unique path to follow." It's possible to make mistakes if we let the hectic pace of the world cause us to lose focus on what's fundamentally real. But there is always a chance for redemption, even if we temporarily fail, because "Light, love, peace and joy flow continuously on our earth."

This is truly a beautiful little book. The readings appear simple, but if you really think about what's being said, you see an almost scriptural loving wisdom shining through.

Scherer and Bodoh have drawn from a reservoir of intellect to mold these words of gratitude in ways that become motivational, encouraging, and life transforming.

These gifted authors have used an artistry of colorful words to create this masterpiece on gratitude. Their thought provoking word pictures stimulate all five senses. The process of growth physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual is the natural result of this sense of gratefulness. I was soon expressing my own "I am grateful for" statements.

This little book touches every area of life. A page for each day of the year highlights a short poetic thought on gratitude. These thoughts are sometimes lighthearted, and often profound. The authors have found expressions for reflection that soon inspire in the reader a positive outlook with new healthier attitudes and a silent empowerment for each day.

"Gratitude Works" is a delightful book to read, reread or pass along to a friend. The target audience for this book is women. It is an excellent gift choice for any occasion.

A very calming and inspirational book presented in an unusual format. A perfect book for a gift to a friend or loved one.