Have you played it? It's a game for one person or for a carload.

Someone begins, "I'm grateful to God for ...  " And he or she shares something. Then the next person gives gratitude for something. This goes on for 5 minutes or until you reach your destination. There's no loser. Everyone is a winner. Everyone feels happy after expressing gratitude. And sometimes you discover amazing things.

My 5-year-old granddaughter and I played the gratitude game when she visited us. I found out she was grateful for her friend Josh ... and "the other Josh." She was grateful to go swimming at the pool. She was grateful to have a daddy who played with her. And for a nice mommy.

She would begin the gratitude game as soon as we settled into the car to drive somewhere. Playing it with her, I tried to be honest and not just say something fast. 1 really stopped to think. What was I grateful for at that moment? That our country was not at war. That we had a nice place to live. That we had plenty to eat. Playing the game made me more aware of the good things in my life.

A friend of mine was having a tough time seeing that there was any good in his life. I suggested to my friend that he take a few minutes before going to bed and write down all the good things he could think of that had happened during the day.

Later he told me what happened. The first night he couldn't think of anything good. But he persisted until he was able to write a few things down.

The next morning he decided to look for signs of good during the day. He sat down on his front steps. A robin landed on the grass. In his words, it began "doing a little dance." preening and cleaning itself. He watched the entire show. It was delightful. He realized that if he hadn't been really looking for good. he would never have noticed the robin and would have missed what to him was a remarkable display.

That evening he filled several pages with recordings of good that had happened during the day and things he was grateful for. Gratitude had made a huge difference!