Expressing gratitude is a sign of a loving heart.  When we have received a gracious gesture, the appreciation experienced forms a bond between the giver and receiver.  This can only happen when abundance and kind gestures are seen as gifts and not something to which we are entitled.  The power of gratitude is more proufound when we realize all that we are and all we are give do not have a human source but are of God.  Walking around believing that our glass is only half full leaves us always wanting more.  We are never satisfied.  We become nothing more than entitled pursuers of whatever we can get.  Instead, the one who is eager to count their blessings and appreciate the wonder and beauty of the gift of life itself is at peace.  Before they take another journey, they bow in gratitude to the presence of God himself.  They are most keenly aware that all would cease to be without God.