Leslie Parrott

Philip Yancey thoughtfully calls pain "the gift nobody wants."
But make no mistake. It is a gift.
The pain we carry in our hearts is the continual grinding of the sea against the sea glass. It takes the sharp edges of our personalities and slowly smoothes them into a person who can be tender with another's wounds.

(...) gratitude, like a vaccine, inoculates our spirit against the poisons of discouragement, cynicism, and criticism. It's impossible to be thankful and cynical at the same time.

Researchers have found, however, an ingredient that is certain to characterize a happy life: gratitude.