Get a New 'tude

You’re a grateful person. Anyone can see that. You’re grateful for food and clothing and shelter and people and all the other stuff people are supposed to be grateful for.

Like the new mall.

So how many times have you actually thought about gratitude today? Or yesterday, or the day before that? Conscious gratitude can have a hugely positive affect on your life, from lifting winter doldrums to taming the green-eyed monster. To take advantage of everything gratefulness has to offer, try expressing your gratitude Oprah-style.

Choose your favorite “listener”—a computer file, an old notebook or some snazzy, designed-to-be-a-journal journal—and start a “gratitude journal.” Each day, list five things you are grateful for, like your favorite coffee mug or your spouse’s nose-hair clippers. Pretty soon, you’ll start to notice things to be grateful for all day—as you look for five to write in the journal—and an attitude of gratitude will just be part of who you are.