A non-cheesy guide to gratefulness: What to read and watch

David Steindl-Rast shares the wisdom of gratefulness at TEDGlobal 2013. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

The perfect Thanksgiving appetizer: today’s talk from David Steindl-Rast, the Benedictine monk and interfaith scholar, on what, exactly, it means to be grateful—and the worlds that gratefulness can open up to us. [ted_talkteaser id=1880]He points out that one thing we all have in common is a desire to be happy, and posits that gratefulness is the way we get there.

In this talk, Steindl-Rast offers a simple process for living gratefully: stop, look and go. Instead of rushing through life, he asks us to see the opportunities that are available and open ourselves up to them. This isn’t an idle or even simply personal concern: gratefulness has broad social implications. “If you’re grateful, you’re not fearful, and if you’re not fearful, you’re not violent. If you’re grateful, you act out of a sense of…