The pandemic we are in offers a new perspective on many things. It is possible to be disgruntled about the limitations the pandemic puts on us. But it is also possible to be grateful for things that, in the normal course of things we took for granted, but now can notice.

If you still have a job, that is something to be grateful for, and probably something you notice more now than before the pandemic. If you have a reasonably nice living space, that is something to be grateful for. If those you live with are reasonably pleasant companions, that is definitely something to be grateful for. If you have been able to reconnect with old friends who live at a distance during this time when we can see that distance matters less than it used to, that, too is something to be grateful for.

There are many, many other things to be grateful for. In particular, if one of the things I listed you don’t have, my bet is that you can identify other things that you can be grateful for. In any case, it is easy to see worst-case scenarios all around us, yet most of us are not personally dealing with a worst-case scenario. That is something to be grateful for.

Gratitude puts us in the emotional presence of all the good things in our lives that we are noticing. It is a wonderful feeling. And it tends to make us nicer to the people around us. Three cheers for gratitude!

Thanks, by the way, for reading my blog. It means a lot to me to have you and others care about what I have to say. It makes the writing worthwhile.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Don’t miss these other posts about gratitude:

• Gratitude Is More Than Simple Sentiment: It Is the Motivation That Can Save the World

• Miles Kimball, Time Traveler: Regrets and Gratitude

• My Life will be Good When ...

• Alfred North Whitehead, Epictetus, Melody Beattie and Amy Poehler on Gratitude

• Sonya Huber, Gratitude Skeptic