In Arthur Brooks’ book, Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, he provides a way of thinking about gratitude that I thought was incredibly helpful. The short, simple, profound, thought is:
“Gratitude is very similar to exercise. We all know it’s good to be grateful and show it–just as we all know it’s good to go to the gym and work out. But just as fitness demands that we make a routine and overcome a natural desire to do nothing, so also we need to make a habit of being grateful, even if we don’t feel it. And not just on one Thursday–all year round.”
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