A Year of Gratitude – October 27, 2024

I found my gratitude in the mountains of Vermont. Who could have guessed that it would be waiting for me there? The sun was shining, the trees were beautiful, and I had great company on my little morning road trip.

It’s easy to be grateful for this sort of day. In fact, there seem to be reasons for thankfulness woven into a day like this. Perhaps that’s just another reason to be mindful of how lucky I am to have experienced a morning like this. And so, I will be. I’ll hold the magic of this moment in my pocket and carry it with me as a reminder of how many reasons I have to be grateful.

On the first day of this year, I decided to begin each morning with a goal to find something in my day to be grateful for. It was a powerful and uplifting way to start the day. Since then, I have been sharing that daily gratitude with you every day right here and on our blog.

I have learned from this practice that gratitude deepens when you share it out loud, when you tell someone about it. There’s something about the act of saying it, writing it, or posting it that seems to make it more real, to give it breath and life.

That shared gratitude multiplies in the loveliest way when others receive it with an open heart and share theirs in return. I have been so touched by your lovely comments on my posts. I have loved reading about your reasons to be filled with gratitude.

I’ve had plenty of reasons for gratitude lately. They’ve been easy to find. Some days, I have to look harder, I need to clear out the cobwebs to find something that has been hiding in plain sight, something ordinary and easy to overlook.

I’d love to know what you’ve been grateful for lately. Join in my gratitude if you like. Share a photo of something you’re working on, something beautiful you discovered in your day, a photo of your pet, something blooming in your garden, or leave a comment about what you are grateful for today. By sharing our gratitude with each other, we can greet the day ahead with an open heart and a grateful spirit.

If you are struggling through a period of time where you just can’t muster up the strength to find your gratitude, that’s okay too. I have been there. I know the depth of that despair, the feeling that there is nothing to be grateful for. Just as it is okay not to be okay, it is alright to not be moved to gratitude, to just need a moment to gather yourself, collect your feelings, and find a way forward.

Know that I am grateful that you saw this post today, on the day that you needed it most and that I am grateful for you, for the simple fact that you are here. You are all the reason I need to find gratitude for this day.

If you’d like to share your gratitude with all of us, please do. I’d love to see or read about your reasons for gratitude today. I hope that the act of sharing it here will multiply and deepen the warmth and fullness of your gratitude just as it has mine.

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.