November 23, 2025: The Grace of Gratitude
“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”
Denis Waitley
Each year on Thanksgiving, families and friends gather together to give appreciation for the things we are grateful for. A tradition handed down in our family, is to go around the table and have each one of us share one thing for which we are thankful. Common reflections have been to give thanks for our families and friends, health, work, and to acknowledge the fact that our basic needs of food and shelter are met. These are all themes which are easily identified. Yet how often, during the other 364 days of the year, do we give thanks for the myriad of daily gifts of life that are often unrecognized?
Gratitude can inspire a range of positive emotions, affecting our emotional, social and psychological health. During difficult times, it can be a challenge to discern those glimmers of light that bring us joy and pleasure. We can be overwhelmed by daily onslaught of negative news, filling our emotions with anxiety, despair and/or fear. These types of thoughts can develop into a negative thinking loop that prevents us from recognizing the simple, daily “gifts” in our life.
“There is always, always something to be thankful for.”
Unknown
Building a practice of gratitude into our daily life can have a powerful effect on how we view of our life experience, leading to long-term positive changes in our mental heath and ability to cope with challenges. Changing our fear and worry into appreciative wonder, can help to minimize negative emotions and facilitate our sense of happiness and well-being. Like ripples in a pond, as we grow in appreciation of the gifts of grace in our life, the darkness that exists in our world, can fade into the background in comparison to the awareness of the gifts.
These “gifts” can be simple ones. It can be an awareness of everyday pleasures, like the sight of the sky filled with the vibrant hues of a brilliant sunrise, the first sip of fragrant tea on a cold morning, to the lyrics of a favorite song on the radio. It can be the relationships in our life, both the ones we are given and the ones we choose; with heartfelt conversations, love, support, and trust. Even more, it can be paying attention to those everyday simple gifts of grace that add so much light into our world, especially when viewing the beauty and resilience of nature.
As a child, I loved the movie Pollyanna, which was based on Eleanor H. Porter’s 1913 novel. The main character, was an orphan Pollyanna who found someting to be “glad” for in every situation. Overtime, being a “Pollyanna” has come to represent someone who seeks and finds the good in any situation. Like the intrepid heroine, Pollyanna, we do have a choice with our daily thoughts and focuses of our intention. We can set our attention to seek out those lightfilled glimmers and flow into our hearts and minds with a sense of gratitude and grace.
What glimmers can you celebrate?
Thank you for taking the time to read my reflections. I’ve included quotes on gratitude that inspired me. I welcome your thoughts and or quotes that resonated in you. Please feel free to share with someone who might find it both hopeful and meaningful.
In peace and harmony,
Wendy Oellers-Fulmer
Inspirational Quotes on Gratitude
“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
Charles Dickens
“Be present in all things and thankful for all.”
Maya Angelou
“The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.”
Norman Vincent Peale
I am happy because I’m grateful. I choose to be grateful. That gratitude allows me to be happy.”
Will Arnett
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”
Brene Brown
“Being grateful does not mean that everything is necessarily good. It just means that you can accept it as a gift.”
Roy T. Bennett
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Melody Beattie
“It’s up to us to choose contentment and thankfulness now — and to stop imagining that we have to have everything perfect before we’ll be happy.”
Joanna Gaines
“The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely.”
Louisa May Alcott
“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
Marcel Proust
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
G.K. Chesterton
“It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.”
Germany Kent
“The heart that gives thanks is a happy one, for we cannot feel thankful and unhappy at the same time.”
Douglas Wood
