Gratitude is a Source of Joy

There Is Peace In A Life Of Constant Gratitude.
Have Gratitude for the Smallest Blessings,
for the crust of bread and the cool drink of water.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The way to happiness is what I call Zero-Based Gratitude.
Each day be happy and grateful for what you have,
independent of yesterday and of other people.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The struggle ends when the gratitude begins.
- Neale Donald Walsch

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer,
for it acknowledges the presence of good
wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.
- Alan Cohen

Gratitude is the Path to Joyful Living.
[my phrasing of a widely shared concept]

Today's affirmation:
I give thanks for all of life.
I Find Peace in Gratitude.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Appreciate Your Blessings

Give Thanks for the Commonplace

Praise and Celebrate Your Life
       

Appreciate the Basics

 

Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.
- Wayne W. Dyer

Our journey into consciousness of wealth begins with the realization
that we have already arrived!
- Michael Bernard Beckwith

Appreciate again and again, freshly and naively,
the basic goods of life, with awe,
pleasure, wonder and even ecstasy,
however stale these experiences may have become to others.
- Abraham Maslow

A Table Grace of Thanksgiving:
We gather today in gratitude for the bounty of the land,
the joyful company around this table,
and all the other blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: A List of Gratitudes - a Thanksgiving

Thank You God

Gratitude: Virtue and Joy

Let Each Day be a Thanksgiving
    

Be Thankful for even the Smallest Blessings

Gratitude is an attitude that hooks us up to our source of supply.
And the more grateful you are, the closer you become to your maker,
to the architect of the universe, to the spiritual core of your being.
- Bob Proctor

It is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives
for which we should be particularly grateful.
They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness --
just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it;
just warmth and shelter and home folks;
just plain food that gives us strength; bright sunshine on a cold day;
and a cool breeze when the day is warm.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder

Food is our most fundamental material blessing.
Use each meal as an opportunity to feel gratitude for all the blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

So long as you have food in your mouth,
you have solved all questions for the time being.
- Franz Kafka

Today's Grace:
I give thanks for the blessings of this food
as a symbol of my gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Life Really Is Good

Gratitude and Life

Know that You have been Blessed

A Thankful Heart
      

Be Of Service - Share Yourself

Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none,
and anyone who has food should do the same.
- Luke 3:11

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

What power there is in our service
when our actions line up with our mission, skills and joy.
– Mary Anne Radmacher

The most eloquent prayer is the prayer through hands that heal and bless.
- Billy Graham

Further reading: Serve Others

The Power of Generosity

We Belong to Each Other

Helping
    

I Wish You Confidence, Courage and Patience

 

This is my wish for you:
Comfort on difficult days,
Smiles when sadness intrudes,
Rainbows to follow the clouds,
Laughter to kiss your lips,
Sunsets to warm your heart,
Hugs when spirits sag,
Beauty for your eyes to see,
Friendships to brighten your being,
Faith so that you can believe,
Confidence for when you doubt,
Courage to know yourself,
Patience to accept the truth,
Love to complete your life.
- Anonymous

Calm provides clarity. Pause to consider
the gifts you have been given,
the difference you have made
and the direction in which you are headed.
- Anonymous

As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand
that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives
for which we should be particularly grateful.
They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness --
just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it;
just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength;
the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder

Lord, grant comfort, joy and health
to those I call friend,
to those I call enemy,
and to those I have cursed by my indifference.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Give Unconditional Love

The Secret of Happiness

Offering Comfort
   

No Good Comes From Comparisons

 

People generally complain about only two things:
when they have less than yesterday,
and when they have less than their neighbor.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Happiness in the present is only shattered by comparison with the past.
- Douglas Horton

Expectations Diminish Joy.
- Anonymous

Riches do not exhilarate us so much with their possession
as they torment us with their loss.
- Epicurus

Comparisons are odious.
- Old English Saying
Read more about this...

Further reading: Rejoice for What You Have

We have Already Arrived

Comparison - Cause of Unhappiness

Appreciating Our Lives
   

Focus on Gratitude

 

Count your blessings - not your troubles.
- Dale Carnegie

In a society that has you counting money, pounds, calories, and steps,
be a rebel and count your blessings instead.
- Rev. Lisa Heckman

It is always a good day to be grateful for all of life -
grateful for large blessings and small.
Especially to be grateful for the symbolic blessings -
the rainbows and butterflies that come into our lives
when we least expect and most need them.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If only the people who worry about their liabilities
would think about the riches they do possess,
they would stop worrying.
- Dale Carnegie

Further reading: Step Back, Gain Perspective

Beyond Worries

May You Be Blessed
    

Appreciate Your Blessings

 

With gratitude, all life appears as a blessing -
without gratitude, all of life
is perceived as a burden.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you arise in the morning,
give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength.
Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself.
- Tecumseh

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't
come as a result of getting something we don't have,
but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
- Frederick Koenig

Gratitude Brings Out the Bright Colors of Life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Giving Thanks for Our Food

What do you take for granted?

Celebrating the Small Miracles of Our Lives

My Glass of Life
    

Gratitude is Powerful

 

Is your glass of life
half empty?
Or half full?

Be Grateful for All of Life:
Each of us has been infinitely blessed - beginning with the gift of life.
Whatever may appear to be missing or broken on any particular day,
our glass is not half full, it is 99.9% full.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie - from 7 Secrets for a Happy Life

I don't think of all the misery,
but of the beauty that still remains.
- Anne Frank

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.
- Thornton Wilder

However much or little you have,
"Thank You" is always a more powerful prayer than, "I need more."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Thank You God

Life Really Is Good

Appreciate Your Blessings

My Glass of Life
          

Thanksgiving Day 2025

 

In a world where so many are hungry,
may we eat this food with humble hearts;
in a world where so many are lonely,
May we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
- Anonymous

As we join hands in fellowship
around this bountiful table,
we give thanks for the blessings of this food
and the love of these friends
as a symbol of our gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
- Anonymous

The food which we are about to eat
Is Earth, Water, and Sun, compounded
through the alchemy of many plants.
Therefore Earth, Water and Sun will
become part of us.
This food is also the fruit of the labor of
many. We are grateful for it.
May it give us strength, health, joy.
And may it increase our love.
- Unitarian Blessing

We receive this food in gratitude to all beings
Who have helped to bring it to our table,
And vow to respond in turn to those in need
With wisdom and compassion.
- Buddhist Blessing

Further reading: Zero-Based Gratitude

My Thoughts on Thanksgiving 

Opportunity for Daily Thanksgiving

Give Thanks for the Commonplace

Thankful and Content
    

Have a Thankful Heart

 

The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies;
but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and,
as the magnet finds the iron,
so it will find, in every hour,
some heavenly blessings!
- Henry Ward Beecher

When we trust in the natural goodness around us,
we open ourselves for the blessings of life to flow toward us.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We return thanks to the Great Spirit,
in whom is embodied all goodness,
and who directs all things for the good of his children.
- Iroquois traditional

The roots of all goodness lie
in the soil of appreciation for goodness.
- Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Blessings flow toward gratitude.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Create the world that could be

Know that You have been Blessed

Believe in People; Believe in Yourself

The Power of Your Intention
    

Gratitude <=> Joy

 

There Is Peace In A Life Of Constant Gratitude.
Have Gratitude for the Smallest Blessings,
for the crust of bread and the cool drink of water.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The way to happiness is what I call Zero-Based Gratitude.
Each day be happy and grateful for what you have,
independent of yesterday and of other people.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The struggle ends when the gratitude begins.
- Neale Donald Walsch

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer,
for it acknowledges the presence of good
wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.
- Alan Cohen

Gratitude is the Path to Joyful Living.
[my phrasing of a widely shared concept]

Today's affirmation:
I give thanks for all of life.
I Find Peace in Gratitude.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Appreciate Your Blessings

Give Thanks for the Commonplace

Praise and Celebrate Your Life
       

Appreciate Every Day the Basic Goods of Life

 

Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.
- Wayne W. Dyer

Our journey into consciousness of wealth begins with the realization
that we have already arrived!
- Michael Bernard Beckwith

Appreciate again and again, freshly and naively,
the basic goods of life, with awe,
pleasure, wonder and even ecstasy,
however stale these experiences may have become to others.
- Abraham Maslow

A Table Grace of Thanksgiving:
We gather today in gratitude for the bounty of the land,
the joyful company around this table,
and all the other blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: A List of Gratitudes - a Thanksgiving

Thank You God

Gratitude: Virtue and Joy

Let Each Day be a Thanksgiving
    

Be Grateful for Common Everyday Blessings

Gratitude is an attitude that hooks us up to our source of supply.
And the more grateful you are, the closer you become to your maker,
to the architect of the universe, to the spiritual core of your being.
- Bob Proctor

It is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives
for which we should be particularly grateful.
They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness --
just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it;
just warmth and shelter and home folks;
just plain food that gives us strength; bright sunshine on a cold day;
and a cool breeze when the day is warm.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder

Food is our most fundamental material blessing.
Use each meal as an opportunity to feel gratitude for all the blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

So long as you have food in your mouth,
you have solved all questions for the time being.
- Franz Kafka

Today's Grace:
I give thanks for the blessings of this food
as a symbol of my gratitude
for all the manifold blessings of this life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Life Really Is Good

Gratitude and Life

Know that You have been Blessed

A Thankful Heart
      

Share What You Have

 

Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none,
and anyone who has food should do the same.
- Luke 3:11

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
- Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

What power there is in our service
when our actions line up with our mission, skills and joy.
– Mary Anne Radmacher

The most eloquent prayer is the prayer through hands that heal and bless.
- Billy Graham

Further reading: Serve Others

The Power of Generosity

We Belong to Each Other

Helping
    

I Wish You Comfort, Smiles ... Patience, Love

 

This is my wish for you:
Comfort on difficult days,
Smiles when sadness intrudes,
Rainbows to follow the clouds,
Laughter to kiss your lips,
Sunsets to warm your heart,
Hugs when spirits sag,
Beauty for your eyes to see,
Friendships to brighten your being,
Faith so that you can believe,
Confidence for when you doubt,
Courage to know yourself,
Patience to accept the truth,
Love to complete your life.
- Anonymous

Calm provides clarity. Pause to consider
the gifts you have been given,
the difference you have made
and the direction in which you are headed.
- Anonymous

As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand
that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives
for which we should be particularly grateful.
They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness --
just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it;
just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength;
the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.
- Laura Ingalls Wilder

Lord, grant comfort, joy and health
to those I call friend,
to those I call enemy,
and to those I have cursed by my indifference.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Feel Your Connection With the Infinite - a Meditation

Give Unconditional Love

The Secret of Happiness

Offering Comfort
   

Comparison Causes Suffering

 

People generally complain about only two things:
when they have less than yesterday,
and when they have less than their neighbor.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Happiness in the present is only shattered by comparison with the past.
- Douglas Horton

Expectations Diminish Joy.
- Anonymous

Riches do not exhilarate us so much with their possession
as they torment us with their loss.
- Epicurus

Comparisons are odious.
- Old English Saying
Read more about this...

Further reading: Rejoice for What You Have

We have Already Arrived

Comparison - Cause of Unhappiness

Appreciating Our Lives
   

Count Your Blessings Every Day

 

Count your blessings - not your troubles.
- Dale Carnegie

In a society that has you counting money, pounds, calories, and steps,
be a rebel and count your blessings instead.
- Rev. Lisa Heckman

It is always a good day to be grateful for all of life -
grateful for large blessings and small.
Especially to be grateful for the symbolic blessings -
the rainbows and butterflies that come into our lives
when we least expect and most need them.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

If only the people who worry about their liabilities
would think about the riches they do possess,
they would stop worrying.
- Dale Carnegie

Further reading: Step Back, Gain Perspective

Beyond Worries

May You Be Blessed
    

Gratitude Brings Out the Bright Colors of Life

 

With gratitude, all life appears as a blessing -
without gratitude, all of life
is perceived as a burden.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you arise in the morning,
give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength.
Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself.
- Tecumseh

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't
come as a result of getting something we don't have,
but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
- Frederick Koenig

Gratitude Brings Out the Bright Colors of Life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Giving Thanks for Our Food

What do you take for granted?

Celebrating the Small Miracles of Our Lives

My Glass of Life
    

Appreciate What We DO Have

 

Is your glass of life
half empty?
Or half full?

Be Grateful for All of Life:
Each of us has been infinitely blessed - beginning with the gift of life.
Whatever may appear to be missing or broken on any particular day,
our glass is not half full, it is 99.9% full.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie - from 7 Secrets for a Happy Life

I don't think of all the misery,
but of the beauty that still remains.
- Anne Frank

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.
- Thornton Wilder

However much or little you have,
"Thank You" is always a more powerful prayer than, "I need more."
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Thank You God

Life Really Is Good

Appreciate Your Blessings

My Glass of Life