I recently finished reading Janice Kaplan’s The Gratitude Diaries.  A friend had suggested it to me after a coworker had recommended it to her.  I read the summary on the back, was intrigued but still hesitant.  So I checked out a copy from the public library.

Soon, though, I found my library copy full of Post-Its.  I then went ahead and bought my own copy — a copy in which I could highlight passages and stick as many Post-Its as I wanted.

I like to think of myself as a person who regularly appreciates all the blessings in my life, large and small, and everything in between.  But still, I found this book helpful, and it made me really stop and think about things from a different perspective.

Here are a few passages I’d like to share with you:

“Because it’s not dependent on specific events, gratitude is long lasting and impervious to change or adversity.”

“Find a reason at least once a day to say thank you.  Focus on the positives instead of the problems.  Tell your spouse why you appreciate him.”

“Instead of worrying about the past or fretting about the future, we could all do ourselves a favor by taking stock of the present.”

“I’d never thought of thanking myself and being grateful to … me.”

“Instead of beating myself up about what my body couldn’t do, I felt proud of what it could.”

“When you can’t do everything, you remind yourself to be grateful for what you can do.”

“Gratitude helps you find meaning – and some version of contentment – in the chaos.”

“… gratitude didn’t depend on the right events or even the right decisions, but how I processed them.  Gratitude gave you back control.”

I was also incredibly intrigued when I read about gratitude and its connection to health.

“Inflammation was a stress response of the immune system…”

“…immune system may respond to emotions.  Worry, anger, or fear send those same white blood cells out … Feeling gratitude could actually counter that effect – and keep our immune systems from spiraling out of control.”

And now readers, I’d love to hear one thing for which you’re grateful.  If you’d like to share, please do so in the comments section.