I am grateful for all the love and affection I get.

Gratitude in general terms doesn't do much. Being grateful for love is about as nourishing as being grateful for food.

It works when it gets specific: the person who called on the anniversary of the bad thing, the one who lent money without setting a repayment date, the one who sat in a hospital car park for four hours and then drove home.

Specificity gives it weight, and weight is what makes it point somewhere. Vague gratitude ends in a warm feeling. Named gratitude tends to end in a phone call.