“Gratitude is the key to a happy life because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have, we will not be happy—because we will always want to have something else or something more.”
—Louise Hay
Gratitude is often spoken of in passing—a feel-good concept, a polite social norm, or a seasonal practice around holidays. But in Life Loves You, Louise Hay and Robert Holden reframe gratitude as something far more profound. In Chapter Five, “Being Grateful Now,” they reveal that gratitude is a transformative spiritual principle, a path to deep healing, and a daily practice that reconnects us to the truth of our being: that we are safe, supported, and loved—right now.
This chapter is a call to awaken gratitude in the present moment—not when life looks perfect, not when all our goals are met, not once we are healed, but now. This message carries especially deep significance for individuals struggling with addiction, depression, anxiety, trauma, or a low sense of self-worth, as gratitude offers not only a perspective shift but a powerful healing vibration that can begin to unravel even the darkest emotional states.
Gratitude as a Path to Presence and Power
“Being Grateful Now” begins with the understanding that gratitude is not just an emotion but a state of awareness—a lens through which we can choose to see life. According to Louise Hay, gratitude anchors us in the present moment, the only place where true healing and change can occur. When we are grateful, we stop resisting life. We stop blaming the past or fearing the future. We align ourselves with what is good, true, and real—right here, right now.
Robert Holden describes gratitude as an “inner power” that activates joy, courage, and creativity. He writes that “gratitude doesn’t change the facts, but it changes our relationship to the facts.” This is a subtle but powerful distinction. Life’s external circumstances may remain the same, but our inner experience of those circumstances can be radically altered by choosing to see through the lens of appreciation.
This idea echoes a central teaching in addiction recovery and mental health treatment: our perception creates our experience. Gratitude does not deny pain—it transforms our relationship to it. Gratitude opens the heart to possibility, even in moments of despair.
Gratitude in the Face of Addiction and Emotional Pain
For individuals battling substance use or mental health issues, gratitude may feel like a foreign or even impossible concept. When someone is consumed by emotional pain, shame, guilt, self-hatred, or hopelessness, the suggestion to “be grateful” can sound hollow or dismissive. However, Hay and Holden acknowledge this resistance and gently guide the reader to see that gratitude is not a denial of pain but a doorway through it.
They point out that the very act of choosing gratitude—even in the smallest ways—begins to shift the energetic vibration of the mind and body. This principle aligns beautifully with what many addiction counselors observe: when clients begin to practice gratitude intentionally, even in the early, raw stages of recovery, their thinking begins to shift from despair to empowerment, from fear to hope.
Gratitude in recovery may begin with the simplest things:
• “I’m grateful to be alive today.”
• “I’m grateful for this cup of coffee.”
• “I’m grateful for this moment of peace.”
• “I’m grateful I reached out for help.”
Each grateful thought is like a light breaking through the fog. Over time, this growing awareness of what is working, what is good, and what is beautiful, slowly rewires the brain and reopens the heart.
The Role of Gratitude in Healing Self-Worth
Louise Hay consistently taught that all healing begins with self-love. However, many individuals with addiction or mental illness carry a deep sense of unworthiness. Gratitude, then, becomes a steppingstone to self-love. By acknowledging the gifts in our life—even in our own being—we begin to shift from self-criticism to self-acknowledgment.
For example, a client in recovery who says, “I’m grateful for my strength,” is affirming their inner power. When someone says, “I’m grateful I asked for help,” they are acknowledging their growth. Each act of gratitude becomes a mirror reflecting our intrinsic value, rather than our perceived flaws.
Hay and Holden encourage readers to begin a daily gratitude ritual—not as a forced task, but as an act of love and awareness. For individuals in recovery, this practice can be life-saving. It reframes the day not around what’s missing or broken, but around what is present, good, and growing.
Gratitude and the Law of Attraction
Another essential message in this chapter is that gratitude aligns us with the energy of abundance. Louise Hay, deeply influenced by metaphysical teachings, taught that what we focus on expands. When we focus on lack, we attract more scarcity. When we focus on fear, we manifest more reasons to be afraid. But when we focus on gratitude, we vibrate with abundance, trust, and joy—and life responds in kind.
For someone in early recovery, life may still feel chaotic, uncertain, or painful. But Hay teaches that even in such times, we have the power to shift our energy through gratitude. By focusing on what we do have—our breath, our willingness, our growth—we begin to attract more experiences that reflect that vibration.
In this way, gratitude becomes a healing frequency. It creates a vibrational match with the life we desire to build: a life of peace, love, sobriety, connection, and purpose.
Practical Tools: Gratitude Exercises for Healing
Chapter Five also includes practical ways to cultivate gratitude, which can be adapted for use in therapy, recovery groups, journaling, or personal reflection. Here are a few core practices from the book and how they apply to addiction and mental health treatment:
- Gratitude Journaling
Write down 3–10 things you’re grateful for each day. Focus on small things and moments. For individuals in recovery, this might include:
• A good night’s sleep
• A conversation with a sponsor
• Being sober another day
• Feeling an emotion without numbing it
Therapeutic benefit: Builds positive emotional awareness, rewires the brain for optimism, and counters the negative bias of depression or trauma.
- Gratitude Mirror Work
Look into a mirror and say: “I am grateful for you. I love you. I appreciate you.”
Therapeutic benefit: Builds self-compassion, softens self-hate, and helps restore damaged self-image—a critical component in addiction recovery.
- Gratitude Letters
Write a letter to someone (living or not) expressing appreciation for how they’ve impacted your life.
Therapeutic benefit: Heals unresolved emotions, supports forgiveness, and deepens emotional insight and connection.
- Gratitude Walks
Take a walk and, with each step, name something you’re grateful for—trees, breath, warmth, stillness.
Therapeutic benefit: Connects mind and body, promotes mindfulness, and grounds the individual in the present.
These simple tools, practiced consistently, can help rebuild a life centered not on what’s wrong, but on what’s meaningful, possible, and loved.
Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Freedom
One of the most moving parts of this chapter is the connection drawn between gratitude and forgiveness. Gratitude helps us shift from blame to understanding, from resentment to peace. Hay and Holden write that when we are truly grateful for our life, we stop needing to control it or hold on to the past. We begin to see that even the painful experiences have taught us something. This is not about excusing harm—it’s about reclaiming power.
In addiction recovery, forgiveness is essential. Many individuals carry guilt over their past actions, resentment toward others, and grief for what was lost. Gratitude becomes a bridge—softening these wounds and preparing the heart to release what no longer serves.
It’s impossible to hate yourself and be grateful for yourself at the same time. When gratitude enters, healing begins.
Reclaiming Joy through Appreciation
Another insight from Chapter Five is that joy is found in the act of appreciating life. Hay and Holden remind us that happiness is not found in achieving something “out there”—it’s found by recognizing what is already here.
This is a vital teaching for individuals with mental health issues like depression or anxiety, which often involve ruminating on the past or catastrophizing the future. Gratitude pulls us into the now. It reminds us that beauty exists even in imperfection, and that joy can be found in the smallest of moments.
Recovery is not only about abstaining from substances or managing symptoms—it’s about reclaiming joy, meaning, and wholeness. Gratitude becomes the path back to these experiences.
Final Reflections: Gratitude Is a Spiritual Practice
In the final pages of Chapter Five, Hay and Holden return to a universal truth: gratitude is a spiritual doorway. It brings us closer to our Source, our Higher Power, or God. It reminds us that we are never alone. Life is not against us—it’s always loving us, guiding us, and giving us what we need to grow.
For someone in addiction recovery or navigating mental illness, this truth can be difficult to believe at first. But gratitude helps bridge the gap. With each grateful breath, we move from fear to faith, from self-loathing to self-love, from despair to hope.
Louise Hay taught that the more grateful we are, the more present we become. And the more present we become, the more we can experience the truth that life loves us—right now.
Closing Thoughts
“Being Grateful Now” is more than a chapter—it’s a call to live differently. It’s an invitation to reclaim the present moment as a place of peace, power, and possibility. For individuals struggling with addiction or mental health issues, it offers not just hope, but a practice—a way to reframe suffering and rediscover the sacredness of life.
Even when life feels broken, gratitude is a reminder that we are still whole. Even when we feel lost, gratitude is the compass that brings us back to the heart.
So begin today. Choose one thing—just one—to be grateful for. Let that be the light that leads you forward. Let that be your medicine. And trust, as Louise Hay reminds us:
“Life loves you. And so do I.”
