This Time I Will Thank Hashem
Leah was the first person since Creation to thank Hashem, because she saw her fourth son as more than her share.
When Leah bore her fourth son, she said, this time I will thank Hashem, and called him Yehudah. Rebbi Yochanan said in the name of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai that from the day Hashem created the world, no one had thanked Him until Leah came and thanked Him. The Midrash explains why it was this son in particular. The Imahos knew that twelve tribes would come from Yaakov through four wives, three for each. When Leah received a fourth, she knew it was more than her portion. The Midrash compares this to a kohen at the threshing floor. One man gives him a whole kor of tithe, and he does not thank him; another gives him a handful of his own grain, and he thanks him. The first gave him only his own portion; the second gave from what was his. Real thanks begins when we stop treating our blessings as what we were owed.
Source: Gemara, Berachos 7b; Bereishis Rabbah 71:4; Rashi on Bereishis 29:35
Tonight, before you sleep, name one good thing from today that you did not earn or expect: a kind word, a parking space, a child's laugh, a meal someone else cooked. Say thank you to Hashem for it, out loud, in one sentence. Tomorrow at Modim in Shemoneh Esrei, bow with that one thing in mind. Do the same for a week. Like Leah, you may find that gratitude starts with noticing what was more than your share.