“What if today
we were just grateful
for everything?”
~ Charlie Brown

My body has adopted a nice rhythm recently. I wake up every morning, without the need for an alarm clock, when I’ve had eight hours of sleep. If I go to bed at 11:00, I wake up at 7:00. When I get to bed early at 9:00, I wake up feeling refreshed at 5:00. It’s a great feeling. 

More importantly, each night when I go to bed, I end my day with a moment’s pause for gratitude, reflecting on the people, experiences, and opportunities that have enriched my day. And when I wake up in the morning, my first thoughts revolve around the theme of gratitude — for my life, my health, my family, and the gift of a new day.

Dr. Robert Holden, a British author who works in the field of positive psychology, wrote, “The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see.” This might help to explain the title of my soon-to-be-published book, Through the Lens of Gratitude. It’s true. Gratitude makes a difference!

A woman approached me at the 75th anniversary celebration of Saint Gabriel School in San Francisco this past Saturday afternoon. She told me that she had read two of my books and asked, “How do you stay so positive, so joyful?” To be honest, I don’t recall ever thinking about this, but I knew immediately that the source of the joy in my life is gratitude.

Author Ralph Blum was spot-on when he wrote, “There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.” Since consciously embracing an attitude of gratitude in late 2006, despite a number of challenging situations in the years since that time, I have experienced a sense of calmness which has served me well. Life has not always been easy. Things have not consistently turned out as I would have liked, but a focus on gratitude has enabled me to maintain a calmness which allows me to embrace a quiet joy. 

Karl Barth, a Swiss theologian who passed away when I was just a freshman in high school, also recognized a link between gratitude and joy. He wrote, “Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” So does joy make us grateful or does gratitude make us joyful? 

While this question may be debated at length, Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk known to many as the “grandfather of gratitude,” offered his response to the question. He said, “It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” I think he’s right.

Because I have chosen to see the world around me through the lens of gratitude, I have been better able to accept life as it comes. While I’ve never been adept at playing the game of baseball, my focus on gratitude has enabled me to deal more effectively with the inevitable curveballs life tosses in my direction. I’ve learned to go with the flow, to adapt to what is, and to be grateful for all things.

American journalist Germany Kent challenges us to wholeheartedly embrace gratitude in our lives. She encourages us to “Take time to reflect on all that you have. It may not be all that you want, but remember, someone somewhere is dreaming to have what you have.”

What a wonderful reality to reflect upon as we begin each new day.