All too often we only set aside one time per year to really, truly give thanks for all we have. Even those who feel they don’t have a lot have one thing we should all be thankful for; the gift of life. Beauty is all around us and if we can capture that sense of continued awe when we stop, take a breath, and appreciate all of the things we enjoy but take for granted, the world instantly looks like a better place.

Gratitude and appreciation is truly the conduit to happiness, a sense of purpose, and a fuller life. I’ve been meaning to start a gratitude journal now, and the idea struck me that it would be even more powerful to share it and inspire others to do the same. My aim is to find one thing to be grateful for each day which will force me to dig deeper to see tiny details that make our lives great but go overlooked.

Without further ado:

#ThankfulThursday – 9/24 – 9/30/2015

Today I’m thankful for…

9/24/2015 – Losing.

It requires defeat to discover where we have weaknesses and shortfalls. Sometimes it requires a crushing loss to help you realize you need to make changes for the better.

9/25/2015 – Slack.

Slack is one of those products that just works really well for my life in the modern day of digital communication. Slack makes 1,000 teeny tiny things a little better. I have fewer emails to check. I have greater visibility into my various teams and projects.

And it works wonderfully across all of my devices. Slack communities have also proven to extremely valuable and they fit in wonderfully along with my other teams.

9/26/2015 – Language.

Language is the fundamental basis for understanding between people. Understanding is the basis of connection between people. Language, then, gives us love, learning, and humanity in general.

Our languages are diverse and powerful. We have body language, speech, and facial expression; all of which conveys an enormous amount of information to each other. It’s also likely that superior language and the higher degree of social connection it enabled was instrumental in the evolution of Homo Sapiens.

9/27/2015 – Texting.

There’s good and bad associated with anything that becomes pervasive and habitual. Texting is certainly pervasive and largely habitual. What’s great about it though is that it enables me to make substantially more micro-connections to people I otherwise wouldn’t be able to find time to chat with for even 15 minutes.

While email would technically work, the availability of text means I can carry on persistent conversations and stay really close with people in a way that would be extremely challenging otherwise.

9/28/2015 – Social Networks

It appears this week I’ve been on a them – connection. Similarly to texting, social networks have allowed me to connect with a broad swath of the world. While they get a bad rap, social networks have been the key conduit to many of my best new friendships and business partnerships.

The real magic is that social networks make the world a smaller place and allow us to learn more from each other – no matter where we call home. We get a sense of where we fit into this universe of Mankind, which can be overwhelming or amazing, depending upon how you want to look at it.

9/29/2015 – Scanners.

Even if scanners are really great at making us frustrated at the office, the technology and its impact on moving an analog world to digital has been instrumental. It’s powerful to be able to take anything we’d like another copy of (whether to preserve or share) and have it be copied digitally or reproduced right in front of you. Amazing, really.

9/30/2015 – Google Earth.

I’m the curious type and Google Earth is one of those products that I used voraciously when it first came out. You can literally explore the world from your Desktop (now phone, tablet, on Google Maps, whatever). There’s so much to see about the worlds we live in each day that aren’t apparent from the ground. Google Earth makes the world feel digestible, tangible, and it fuels a sense of adventure and discovery that far exceeds its basic novelty.

Your turn

I’m always looking for more inspiration, so tell me, what’s one thing you’re grateful for from the past week? I’ll share a few submissions during next week’s post and intend to keep that going all year long. While I love #ThrowbackThursday, I’d love to see #ThankfulThursday take off too.

The more we can say thanks, the better off we’ll be. Especially because we don’t know if we’ll be able to say “thanks” to those we care about tomorrow or to those who’ve touched us that we’ll never cross paths with again – why wait?