"Henry Timms [a nonprofit leader] described gratitude as a muscle that we all need to flex, so I told him about my year of living gratefully and how much I'd changed. He nodded thoughtfully. I could see the idea-generating mind at work.
" 'You need some dramatic transformation for the end of your book," he said. "A whole year of gratitude needs something big. It should feel like the ending of a movie. Maybe you should become a nun?'
"I admire Henry so much that for a moment, I took it seriously.
"But, nope, I had a husband and two kids. The convent thing wouldn't work.
" 'Keep thinking. I like the concept, but preferably a transformation that doesn't involve a vow of chastity,' I said.
"We both laughed and I left Henry's office with an extra bounce in my step. After these many months of gratitude, those children and husband plus work and friends made me more satisfied than ever. Gratitude had changed me and a few people around me, but maybe it could have bigger repercussions, too. By its very nature, gratitude created an 'unselfie' approach to daily life, making you turn the camera lens around and focus outward instead of inward. Appreciating the world around you made you more eager to be part of making it better."
