I agree. It's helped me get through some pretty difficult stuff lately.

Sign of a decent person.

So many people do not understand the connection between gratitude and happiness.

Appreciation is the word I prefer to use, as it doesn't require an actor to express gratitude TO. There is no invisible sky wizard to be grateful to, and sometimes, there are no humans or proxies like organizations / companies to be grateful to ... and when there is, they aren't necessarily reliable.

But one can appreciate the things that are good that are right in front of you. For example, at the moment I appreciate that I have a clean, warm, safe house, a quality laptop and a high speed internet connection, a full stomach, a couple of dogs cuddled up to me, etc. These things exist, sometimes because of my efforts or those of others, sometimes because of dumb luck, but I appreciate them regardless.