Appreciation should be practiced before circumstances force perspective.

Circumstances will eventually supply perspective, usually through loss or difficulty, and the lesson will be accurate and expensive. Practising appreciation beforehand gets you most of the same clarity without the fee. It is one of the few kinds of wisdom you can acquire in advance.

Spend a few minutes considering what you would understand differently if some part of your life changed suddenly. Then act on that understanding now, in one small way, while nothing has forced you to.