I read a brief article this morning titled, “True Secret to Success.”  It reminded me how important Gratitude is to our success, happiness, and optimism in life.  Significant personal and professional successes, life events, tragedies, and holidays (like Thanksgiving) remind us to show our gratitude.  But the real key to happiness is showing our gratitude daily.  Over the last few years both in business and personal settings, I have had people recommend that I write a daily gratitude journal.  I figured I ought to give it a try since I have always kept a daily journal.  Every day at the top of my entry I simply write the first three things that come to my mind that I am grateful for.  The list often includes my wife, children, family, God, Jesus Christ, friends, health, freedom, America, opportunity, time, nature, business success, etc.  No matter how bad the day before was or how stressful the current day may be, I always have many things to be grateful for, and when I identify even a few of those things each day, I feel optimistic about the day ahead.  I have found so much fulfillment in this daily exercise that each Monday as we start the week, our entire family sits down together and we each list the three things we are most grateful for.  Gratitude can be expressed in other ways as well. For those who are religious, daily prayer is an opportunity to show gratitude to God, the source of all things we have to be grateful for.   Whether it be through a gratitude journal, daily prayer, or daily meditation, I know that showing daily gratitude in all areas of our lives is a “True Secret to Success.”