Simon-Thomas says gratitude is “also a recognition that these things are not always a result of your own prowess or genius but of the other people — or for some, a higher force or power — that are sources of happiness in your life.” This, she says, “helps us connect with others in a meaningful way."
Gratitude is “a very large part of my life,” says Judith Salley. “Every morning during prayer time, one of my requests to the Lord is that I be a blessing to someone that day.” Chairperson of the biological and physical sciences department at South Carolina State University, she’s also the lay leader at her church.
Whenever she learns of a student struggling with personal difficulty, Salley listens to their troubles, prays with them if they wish, and “it’s just amazing how He answers,” she says. At the end of the day “I am just so grateful to have been of service and of help."
Gemma Farrell gravitated to Roman Catholicism at a “pretty young age.” Today she regards herself a devout Catholic, and yet she’s found much goodness in Eastern religious traditions, including Buddhist meditation and Hinduism’s Bhakti yoga.
The latter introduced her to people who “live in pure devotion to God out of gratitude for being a particle in the universe.” She found it “a beautiful idea,” so when she started a yoga school in Princeton, New Jersey, eight years ago, she named it Gratitude Yoga.
“I try to keep it light,” she says. “I might say, `As you inhale, celebrate something that brings you happiness, or something you’re grateful for that you haven’t earned but were blessed to receive — maybe just a circumstance or a person you learned from.'
“It’s an approach,” says Farrell, “every human being can relate to."