Thanking is recognizing and appreciating

Thanking is to recognize what God gives to me, and to appreciate what he gives to me.
Thanking is, thus, the beginning of my conversation with God.
He already gave me so many things starting from my own life.
The more I thank, the more things I start to see which I didn't see before as His gift.
Then I start to see so many gifts around--not only things, but also the situations
God prepares so many different situations for me to grow,
and to be mature, then I will be filled with joy and happiness
Therefore, I'd better open my eyes wide
so that I can see His love
Many times I cannot recognize His love because it comes from totally unexpected direction, or in totally unexpected manner; better open my eyes...
He hears our prayer and absolutely responds to us (maybe not in a way we expect)
Here's a good example:

This is the conversation from the movie, "Evan Almighty"

....This situation looks like an opportunity.
If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the opportunity to be patient?
If they prayed for courage, does God give them courage, or does He give them the opportunity to be courageous?
If someone prayed for their family to be closer, you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings? Or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

Therefore, when you get up in the morning, the first thing you do is to say, "Thank you, God! (I'm not dead.)" Then anything happens to you, you say, "Thank you, God." And then stop to think what you can thank God about. I mean, you have to be open to notice God's love from anywhere, in any kind of manner.