Summary

In this guidepost, Brown emphasizes the connection between gratitude and joy. In her research, everyone who described living a joyful life actively practiced gratitude. Joy and gratitude are also spiritual practices “bound to a belief in human interconnectedness and a power greater than us” (78). The key to gratitude is practice, rather than attitude. A gratitude practice can include gratitude journals, gratitude meditation, gratitude art, and/or gratitude affirmations.

In her discussion of joy, Brown notes that joy and happiness are two different things: “happiness is tied to circumstance and joyfulness is tied to spirit and gratitude” (79). Neither is constant, but we need to cultivate both in order to experience more happiness and live from a place of joy and gratitude. To do so, we have to recognize that joy is not constant, but that it comes in moments—often ordinary...