Collective Gratitude

Posted on by Wynne Leon

Gratitude is my super power. When I’m grateful, I’m more likely to accept events as they land. It’s a flow where I appreciate those happenings that agree with me and can more easily shrug off those that don’t. And when I’ve adopted an attitude of gratitude, my heart feels full instead of grabby.

Funny how often I forget this super power. And then, I lurch around trying to catch all the balls in the air, declare they are mine, and control where they need to be, forgetting that there is another way to flow.

So, I love the events and things that remind me of gratitude so that I can hit the reset button. Thanksgiving being one of my favorites. It’s celebrated in the US this year on November 28th.

Vicki and I thought it would be so fun and rewarding to put together a post that is a compilation of our collective gratitude. We would love for you to participate.

Here’s what we need from you:

This is what we’ll do:

  • Compile a gratitude post that will go live during Thanksgiving week and contain all comments received by 11/21.
  • If you submitted something we’ll include your gratitude and link to your blog

We’re looking forward to a collective feast of big and little things for which we are grateful!

We’re thankful for you!

39 thoughts on “Collective Gratitude”

  2. My story is also the story of 10 high school friends who made a promise to meet almost 40 years after our graduation. Eight of us kept that promise and, through a series of remarkable and unlikely events, wound up creating the Zeolite Scholarship fund and giving away approximately a quarter of a million dollars in the space of about 15 years. Every year when we came to Chicago’s Mather High School to make the scholarship awards we felt like the luckiest people on earth: https://drgeraldstein.wordpress.com/2020/01/01/what-were-you-doing-twenty-years-ago-today/

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  3. Brilliant idea! I’m grateful for many things but, as the daylight grows shorter each day, I’m especially appreciative of sunshine and nature. The fall of 2024 made me especially grateful for the spectacular display of colour it treated us to. It felt like the trees were providing a natural antidote to all the negativity in the world.

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  6. Wynne, this is such a wonderful idea! My list is never ending, but to share some, I’m grateful for family and friends, including furry family members that have enriched my life, for the world of blogging and the wonderful connections it generates, for nature and her gorgeous gifts, for books, for the passion to write, for music, and last but not least, for pain-free days. ❤️

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  7. I’m grateful for my husband. We’ll be celebrating 40 years of marriage in 2025. I’m grateful for my children and that my daughter-in-law has had three scans so far that are cancer free. I’m grateful for this blogging community and the delight I have in reading everyone’s thoughts each day.

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  8. I am grateful that three times I survived when those that know said it was a long shot that I would, but I am still here to look out each day at noon and say a pray grateful to know we on the back side on the way to another day with family, friends, and friends yet to meet.

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  9. I share your super power. That is more a reflection of my parents who always taught their kids to appreciate our blessings instead of focusing on the things we didn’t have. I look forward to taking part.

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  10. I love this. What a great idea Wynne and Vicki.
    For me, as you’ve probably guessed it’s all in the little details that we sometimes overlook or take for granted. And sometimes we also have to be grateful for the things we don’t receive and for the hard stuff. They come with lessons we couldn’t learn elsewhere.
    I had posted about gratitude just last month, around the time of Canadian Thanksgiving.
    You’ll find that post here.

    Grateful for

    I’ll look forward to hearing about everyone’s gratitude in your compilation. Grateful for this community. 💕

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    1. Oh my goodness, Alegria. The little things and the hard things! “They come with lessons we couldn’t learn elsewhere.” So well said!

      Your post is so rich! Thank you for being such a great part of this community and positive spirit! I’m grateful for you!

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  11. what a lovely project, and happy to contribute, just like bringing a dish to a thanksgiving feast. I’ll I love thanksgiving too, because there are no gifts or mega decor to worry about, just getting together to be thankful for the people we are about and lots of good food.

    I am so grateful for the people in my life who I have connected with. family, friends, and people who I meet along the way, bloggers included. every single interaction has impacted me in some way and helped to make me who I am .

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    1. Such a great analogy to bringing a dish to Thanksgiving! Yes!

      Your sentence, “every single interaction has impacted me in some way and helped to make me who I am .” hits me right in the gut. Yes!!

      Thank you, Beth! I’m grateful for you!

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  13. Gratitude is a healing and powerful force and I love this idea.

    For me, it all boils down to my loved ones. They are what I feel the most grateful for in life and what keeps me going.

    And I’m grateful for you two and the HOTM community – my daily boost of positive energy.

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    1. Oh, I love how you call gratitude a powerful force, Ab. Yes!

      I was just thinking last night as I looked at my kids sleeping – they are such an amazing animating and motivating force for me. So I completely relate to your gratitude for loved ones.

      I’m so thankful I met you in this space. You have become a voice I rely on for humor, perspective, inspiration, and authenticity!

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  14. A wonderful idea!!

    I like your “attitude of gratitude” phrase. It reminds me of a quote that I heard from the podcast, Ologies with Alie Ward. She said, “It’s hard to be hateful with a plate-full of grateful.” When I told that to my daughters, they rolled their eyes. But, so what if it’s cheesy? It’s good stuff.

    Here’s my addition to the Thanksgiving feast:

    I’m grateful for family and friends who have given me a sense of belonging. That incudes fellow bloggers, who put parts of their hearts into the world, which is generous and brave.

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  16. I am really looking forward to reading the results of your collective gratitude responses, Wynne and Vicki. It’s a great idea. I thought I was supposed to email mine (which I did) and then saw many responses right here in comments, haha. I see that there are already so many thoughtful answers. I love that it’s going out Thanksgiving week! 🙂

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  17. Oh, Wynne…gratitude for so many things – and people. I’ve taken a couple of days to consider the prompt and I think what I have to share could be offered from both of us.
    Our dear, dear friend and fellow blogger, Julia Preston has been on our minds as we wish her spirit Godspeed with gratitude for all she’s contributed to boosting our creative juices, celebrating our writing – books and blog posts and podcasts…and more.
    Julia was one of the first readers of “Surviving Sue” and her support through loving emails and encouragement, a rich and wonderful review filled me up when I needed the worthiness reminders. I can – and should – Julia would say – tell my story and focus on the aspects of ‘why’ I survived Sue. Literally. It was always for the love of Lisa.
    Julia’s focus about that was unwavering over the past two years and I know she will forever be an angel in our hearts. A lightworker, continuing to lift others up with love. From a gratitude point of view, I could simply say this: I am grateful to have crossed paths with the brilliant, big-hearted poet, author, philosopher, Julia Preston. 💕💕💕

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  18. Pingback: Collective Gratitude: The Feast Before the Feast – The Heart of the Matter

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