Last week marked the 10th anniversary of Brother David Steindl-Rast’s short audio meditation –  “A Good Day.” It had a powerful impact on me then, and still does today. He’s taught me a great deal about gratitude. Two specific teachings I carry with me; the first one is that we may not be able to be grateful for everything, but we can be grateful in every moment. I think of myself as a realistic optimist. I have a generally optimistic attitude, but I understand the reality of the world we live in, the good and the bad, and the full range of emotions we feel. I relate the “being grateful in every moment” to resilience and perspective. No matter what happens there are still things to be grateful for, I just need to call on those thoughts. The second one is his famous quote “In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” If you’d like to read a little more about research on gratitude and happiness, check out this NYT article from last fall “Choose to Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier.”