Gratitude is an extremely powerful spiritual tool. It is an extremely powerful healing principle. It is an extremely powerful happiness principle.

Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can give to ourselves. Michele Wahlder, an internationally-recognized life coach, career counselor, speaker and gratitude enthusiast, has written a new book, alphatudes, the alphabet of gratitude, which can help us to do this.

alphatudes, using the letters of the alphabet, spells out 26 spiritual solutions to help individuals develop a perspective of gratitude in order to cope with the challenges of life. It is an enjoyable read which combines illustrations, quotes, text, affirmations and prayers emphasizing the power and importance of gratitude as a transformational model to enable us to enrich our daily experiences and maximize the potentials we have within us for inner peace and happiness.

Insofar as gratitude is a mind-set which, when embraced, helps us maintain a positive attitude free of resentments and worry, heightens our awareness and appreciation of the blessings we have in our lives despite any difficulties we may be facing, and helps us to attract opportunities that will benefit rather than hinder our growth and happiness, alphatudes is a worthy addition to one’s self-help library.

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I saw a commercial on TV for the new season of “The Apprentice,” which indicated that Rod Blagojevich, the ex-Governor of Illinois, is going to be one of the show’s contestants. Certainly, I’m not surprised. Over the years, Americans have made heroes and celebrities out of a variety of people with unethical standards and behaviors.

I am sure it will be entertaining to many people to see one more charismatic character with no moral compass strutting and prancing about on the TV screen, which is why the producers of “The Apprentice” chose to put him on the show in the first place: he’ll be good for ratings.

Unfortunately, it’s not good for America. It’s not a good message to be sending to the world, in general, and our children, in particular, that one can lie, cheat, steal, and then end up becoming a celebrity on TV with a big pile of cash.

We should not be watching and supporting shows of this nature that glorify people of his ilk. It is not good role modeling. It does not elevate our nation’s collective conscience. Our world is currently in the mess it is in, to a large degree, because we have tolerated and supported the behaviors of inferior, ethically-challenged individuals.

Yes, of course, it’s just a TV show. But it’s not harmless. It’s essentially encouraging more corrupt behavior by reinforcing the message that one is more likely to be rewarded by acting inappropriately as opposed to taking the moral high ground.

Certainly there must be other TV shows we can watch that will entertain us without elevating people of poor character to exalted celebrity status.

It behooves us to boycott anything out there that promotes fallen public figures and felons who are shallow, self-centered, and dangerous to the fabric of our society because when we cooperate by viewing and supporting such people we are telling the producers who hire those people that they should continue to do so, rather than find other, more elevated ways to make money.

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