No time to read? Listen here:
I hope you enjoy this excerpt on the
beauty of gratitude from my next book,
The Beautiful Road!
Sara Ban Breathnach’s 1995 book, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy was more than a bestselling book—it was, and is, a revolutionary way of living. It offers a year-long journey through daily meditations meant to help us rediscover the sacredness of the ordinary. Breathnach calls it “an exciting adventure together,” and it really is: a conscious daily return to grace and gratitude.
“It wasn’t meant to be a book at all,” Breathnach explained after the book’s publication. “It began as a process devised to help me discover, possibly for the first time in my life, what mattered most.” This honesty feels so true because for many of us, slowing down long enough to think about what matters is a radical act.
Glance at the sun.
See the moon and the stars.
Gaze at the beauty of Earth’s greenings.
Now,
Think.
For body and mind
For centuries, poets, sages, and spiritual teachers have encouraged us to practice gratitude—not as empty words, but as something meaningful that can bring more joy into our daily lives.
Emotionally, gratitude is a light in dark places. It has been shown to ease depression and anxiety and even build self-esteem, not by pretending everything is okay, but by refocusing the lens. Instead of asking “What’s missing?” it teaches us to ask, “What is here?” In that shift, we often discover we’re standing in the middle of amazing abundance.
Amazingly, modern science is discovering what these wise voices understood all along: gratitude isn’t just nourishing for the soul, it supports our physical and mental wellbeing, too.
Feel good
When we pause to be grateful, whether it’s for the softness of a blanket, the taste of a warming bowl of soup, birdsong ringing through the trees, or sunlight streaming in through the window just so, our brains light up with reward. Gratitude releases dopamine and serotonin, the same feel-good chemicals that spike when we achieve a goal, eat a favorite dessert, or fall in love.
Gratitude lowers cortisol, the stress hormone that floods our bodies when we’re anxious or overwhelmed. Even a few minutes of genuine appreciation — writing down what went well today, thanking a friend, or saying a quiet prayer of thanks before sleep — can soothe our nervous system.
Through the miracle of neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to literally rewire itself), gratitude strengthens the neural pathways in our brains that are associated with joy, contentment, and hope. The more we practice it, the more naturally we begin to see the good. Not because we’re in denial, but because we’ve trained our minds to notice.
Small things
Imagine walking through the day looking at everything that happens through this prism of gratitude, of happiness: catching the way your child smiles mid-sentence, feeling the softness of your dog’s fur as you run your hand over it, noticing the weight of your own body in a comfortable chair after a long day. These are small things. But they accumulate. And this change in focus pulls our thinking away from fear and toward joy and contentment.
So choosing to be grateful doesn’t just change how we feel; it changes how our bodies work. Research shows that people who regularly practice gratitude report significantly better sleep quality and duration. In a study published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, people who wrote in a gratitude journal for just 15 minutes before bed slept longer and reported feeling more refreshed in the morning, ready for the day ahead.
Through the conscious act of noticing what we can be grateful for, the source of joy isn’t external, it’s internal. Freely available. Unlocked just through our own awareness.
More generous and patient
Maybe most beautifully of all, gratitude transforms relationships. When we express appreciation (“Thanks for cleaning up after dinner,” “I see how hard you’re trying,” “I’m so lucky to know you”), we strengthen the bonds of our relationships. We become softer, more generous, and more patient with the people we love and care about.
Then, what’s next? Conversation flows more easily. Trust deepens. We feel less alone.
In a world so often focused on what’s missing or what’s wrong, gratitude doesn’t deny the cracks. It lights a candle inside them.
And sometimes, that’s all it takes.
Dig deeper:
Dream Come True: How love, gratitude and simplicity can bring your beautiful dream to life
You, Beautiful: Getting gorgeous from the inside out
#GratitudePractice #SimpleAbundance #MindfulLiving #JoyfulLiving