Why gratitude pays dividends

On this day of thanks, a quick look at how being grateful can make us healthier and happier.

Thanksgiving is one of our favorite holidays, and not just because we’re among the strange minority who genuinely enjoy eating turkey. What we love is the idea of a day set aside for gratitude — even if commercial culture has done its best to bury that original purpose under gluttony and Black Friday chaos.

Over the past few months, we’ve been deliberately cultivating gratitude, and once it becomes a practice, it’s remarkable how quickly it shifts your perspective. Blessings become easier to see and even setbacks, detours, and disappointments start to look different. Hardship can often feel like an interruption or an injustice, but with a grateful lens it can teach patience, humility, and resilience. How do we grow if we never have our limits tested? What would a life without difficulty even offer, if it never taught us mercy?

One of the first things that struck us after moving to South Texas — a region shaped by Mexican culture — was the sheer grace and gratitude of many of the people we encountered. Ask someone how they’re doing and you’re likely to hear: “Praise God, I’m alive. That’s better than the alternative,” or “Thank the Lord, I have my work and my health.”

Being around people who meet life with a sense of gratitude rather than grievance can soften the edges of an otherwise harsh world. People naturally want to be around someone who moves through life with thanks. By contrast, someone who fixates on what’s lacking or meets every gift with suspicion ends up repelling the support they probably most need.

It’s the final stretch before the holiday season, so we’ll keep this brief and end simply with two words: thank you. To our readers, to our supporters, and even to our critics. We learn from all of you, we appreciate you, and we wish each of you a meaningful, joyful holiday season ahead.

From our family to yours — Happy Thanksgiving.

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