By Sharon Fleshman
At a staff meeting last week, a colleague remarked that she was grateful for something. I’ll admit that I can’t recall what that “something” was, yet we were all reminded that gratitude for even the “little things” can make a difference in our outlook. To that end, I thought that I would share a few perspectives and thoughts on gratitude that are worth pondering. Happy Thanksgiving!
“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” John Milton
“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” G.K. Chesterton
“’Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.” Alice Walker
“We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean… and we were taught to value everyone’s contribution and treat everyone with respect.” Michelle Obama
“In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” Lionel Hampton
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” John F. Kennedy
