May 23, 2020: Gratitude

I'm sure I'm not alone in noticing that gratitude comes up often during this global pandemic. Recently, I've encountered lots of messages about the science-based benefits of practicing gratitude. I'm about halfway through the Science of Well-Being course I mentioned in an early post. In it, the professor asks us to keep a gratitude journal for at least one week, as the practice of writing down five things each day for which we are grateful is scientifically proven to increase happiness. Not long after, my friend Dr. Aditi shared the same advice in a presentation to a community of female entrepreneurs about building resilience during the Covid crisis. 

And this morning, I listened to an On Being discussion with David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk and gratitude teacher and author. He talks about joy being key to gratitude, and that joy is "the happiness that doesn't depend on what happens." Wow. That is a goal worth practicing!