News & Updates

We all have a routine. Aside from the small stuff like making your bed, eating your breakfast and brushing your teeth, what do you do in the morning? Although our morning routines are all a little different, we probably established a rather similar routine early in our lives. Wouldn’t it be nice if part of that routine included gratitude?

Sometimes people say: “I have nothing to be grateful for!”  They might be working two poorly paying jobs and still barely making it.  They might be in poor health.  They might be looking at how rich so many people are, and contrasting it with their own poverty. These are real and serious concerns. 

So, the holidays are over and all the presents have been unwrapped. I doubt that any of your children found that they’d won a million dollars in a lottery. But suppose they had? Or even that they’d gained $100, something which is much more likely. What would they have done with that money?

You may wonder why I chose to open this posting with these lines from Kerouac’s Dharma Bums when Christmas is still some weeks away. First of all, my creative writing professor in collage told us in first class that “Always start with a quote if you want to make a strong influence.”

This all started by accident; being a somewhat messy eater, some of the food Gabi had been eating on her way home from preschool would fall from her lap to the ground. Waiting crows would swoop down to feed on those crumbs. Gabi then decided to feed the crows on a more regular basis, and every day would put out food and water for them.

One evening while standing in a long line in the grocery store a woman in front of me turned around. She must have recognized my accent and/or voice, and she just brightened up and exclaimed in a really excited tone: “Oh my goodness, how are you?” Almost a year ago, a colleague and I had interviewed her and her daughter for our Developing Gratitude Study.

Recently James saw a beautiful sunset, but didn’t pay attention. Alicia thought the fall leaves were lovely, but said nothing. Michael at 70 took his excellent health for granted.  Mary knew her friend Jane needed help, but didn’t lend a hand. Even though Jane gave her a ride home a few days ago.