Seven years ago, when I first discovered The Secret and the magical power of gratitude, I made a list of all of my desires. It was a long list! At that time, there seemed to be no possible way my desires could come true. Nevertheless, I took my top ten desires and I carried them with me on a piece of paper every day. Whenever I had an opportunity, I would take out my list and read through it, giving as much gratitude for each desire as I could, as though I had received it. With my number one desire, the desire I wanted more than anything else, I kept it constantly in my mind, and I would say the magic words, thank you, for it multiple times in a day, and feel as if it had come true. One by one every desire on my list magically appeared before my very eyes. As I received my desires I would cross them off my list, and when I had new desires I would add them to my list.

One of my desires from my original long list was to travel to Bora Bora near Tahiti. After spending a beautiful week at the exact place in Bora Bora I had listed, another beautiful thing happened. I was flying to the mainland of Tahiti on my way home when the airplane stopped en route to pick up passengers. The flight had been empty, but it filled to the brim with native Tahitians, and suddenly laughter, smiling faces, and a happiness that was palpable surrounded me. As I enjoyed the short flight with these beautiful people, it became crystal clear to me the reason why they were so happy. They were grateful! They were grateful to be alive, they were grateful to be on the airplane, they were grateful to be with each other, they were grateful for where they were going – they were grateful for everything! I could have stayed on that plane and traveled around the world with them, it felt so good to be with them. And then it struck me that I had just received my final desire; Bora Bora was the last desire on my original long list, and the reason I was on that plane was before my very eyes – gratitude!I’ve shared this story as an inspiration for you, because no matter how big your desires seem to be, you can receive them through gratitude. Even more than that, gratitude will bring joy and happiness for life that you’ve never felt before, and that is truly priceless.