Gratitude

Bea Rudney, 102, expresses her gratitude with every visitor she has—and there are many—and for the good health she has enjoyed into her centenarian years. Gail Darlow, 50, thanked every hospital orderly who took her to a procedure during the three years she fought cancer. The author I am currently working with is grateful that her late husband lived to 97 and that she has both the means and the longevity to enjoy her adult children and grandchildren.

Gratitude has powerful psychological, social, and physical effects. I am convinced that, by shifting attention from what is lacking to what is present, it helps people find meaning—even alongside grief or limitation.

For these lessons I am grateful.