Imagination and desire are needed to direct the formless Substance--this constitutes our engagement in life, whereby we become increasing consciousness by exerting choice and experiencing the effects of those choices. Desire is the level at which we work with the gift and power of free will as the means to come to know the self as love.

Gratitude releases our blocks from their locked-in positions, speeds up full learning, and gives back to the universe to maintain balance and harmony, and the universe in turn responds with the joy of greater giving. But these are its effects. The essence of gratitude is love, and the highest form of gratitude is unconditional love.

If you're not sure what unconditional love feels like, try being grateful for all that is in your life that you tend to resist... be grateful for all those in your life who trigger you into less-than-love behaviours... be grateful for all past experiences that caused you pain... be grateful for all present conditions you'd rather not experience. Apply the principles discussed above, in which gratitude completes the spectrum of experience and thus the cycle of learning.