Sherry and Rob talk about the topic of gratitude.  They both list things they are grateful for and also explore the science behind having gratitude and how it can positively influence your mind and body.

Support ZenFounder

Episode Transcript

Sherry Walling:

Hi, folks. This week we are reviving an old episode from the archives, an episode that we did last year about gratitude. And in this episode Rob and I talk quite a bit about the science of gratitude, some of the practices of gratitude, and we thought this would be a timely discussion. For those of you who are U.S. based listeners, this is our week of celebrating Thanksgiving. And it’s a time when we celebrate abundance with good food and gather together with friends and family. And it’s good, it’s right that we should honor and enjoy the resources that available to most of us who are listening to this podcast. And for some of us, it’s been kind of a hard season to be very grateful. It feels like there’s a lot of chaos and a lot maybe going wrong in the world around us.

 

And I think for me, one of the natural outpourings of a practice of gratitude is a sense of generosity and a sense of sort of knowing my own resources and my abundance, and then being able and interested and wiling and concerned about sharing some of those resources with other people who are, in some cases, desperately in need of them. Throughout this past year I’ve had the opportunity to begin doing a little bit of work with an organization called the International Refuge Assistance Project. This is a group of attorneys and law students who are willing to help people around the world pursue refugee status in the U.S. and Canada and Europe.

 

And through this work, I’ve been able to meet some of the refugees who have resettled here in the U.S. and I have to tell you that in 10 to 15 years of being a psychologist, working in refugee camps in West Africa, working with members of the American military, the stories coming out of Syria are among the most desperate that I can even imagine. And I’ve considered it a great honor to be able to help even in small ways, support the work of this agency.

 

So if you’re in a place where you’re enjoying your Thanksgiving and you’re aware of your abundance, consider this as one of the many options, the many points of need in the world where people can use your resources and are really very much in need of help. I also want to mention had grateful Rob and I are for you all, for the folks who listen to this podcast, who support the podcast. You talk about the podcast. It’s been such a pleasure to make this a part of our lives and make you a part of our lives. And we’re grateful that we get to do really interesting work with amazing folks like you. So if you’re a U.S. listener, have a happy Thanksgiving. And for the rest of you around the world, I hope that you will enjoy this discussion of some practices of gratitude.

Sherry Walling:

What are you grateful for?

Speaker 3:

My mom. My whole family, actually.

Speaker 4:

You and daddy and Fisher and people who will take us in when we’re selling our house and a lot of other things.

Rob Walling:

I am grateful for cold, chilly mornings and being surrounded by friends and great food.

Sherry Walling:

Why is it important to say thank you or express gratitude?

Speaker 3:

Because it’s right and it’s respectful and it makes everyone