What does it take to be grateful?

Posted by Jorge Bernal January 01, 2009

If you learn to appreciate more of what you already have, you’ll find yourself having more to appreciate.
Michael Angier

Not much. You can try. Today. Say thanks to someone who has helped or inspired you. Do it now.

Psychologic studies show than being grateful makes you happier. I’ve also read a lot of times how being grateful can make you happy. You should try it and see for yourself.

It seems lately everyone tries to set some goals for the new year this time of the year. Don’t fool yourself. It’s good to have goals, but just because it’s a new year it won’t make them happen easier. Instead, try looking at the previous year and saying thanks to everyone who has helped you in any way.

To make things easier, I’m going to start a blog meme to see how far it goes. I’ve seen memes circulate for much more mundane reasons, so I hope it spreads.

Think about 3 people who have helped, influenced or inspired you at any level and write that you are grateful and why. If they have a blog, link to them. If not, tell them you praised them in your blog. If praising someone is good, doing so in public is much better.

Here is my list of three:

Esther: my beloved girlfriend. She’s probably the person I’ve thanked most often in person, but she earned that. If I could measure my happiness and success with any metrics, she could probably take responsibility for at least 80% of it. She supported me in my decisions when nobody else did, and she kept doing so until now. Thanks!
Nacho. Since I arrived at Warp and got into the business world, he has been an inspiration and model to follow. I’ve learned a lot from him about many things, and he always come to mind when I read about true good leadership. Thanks!
Heidi. I read somewhere that one of the steps to become more creative was to surround yourself with creative people, and she is definitely a creative one. She once was surprise about how I was keeping my passion for photography day after day, when I usually get tired of things very soon. What she may not now (yet) is that she helped me to keep going with her comments and good praise. Thanks!