'Came As Airbnb Guest, Found A Family': 30 Days Of Gratitude

HERCULES, CA — Kanwal Kaur in Hercules shared a special thank you to friends Natalie and Roberto.

Hello Natalie and Roberto: Thank you for being you. I came to your home as a Airbnb guest but found a family! Thank you for keeping the lights on all night at times, doors open and just being there helping me ride through some of the most difficult post-surgery days with extreme anxiety. You both are one of the most nurturing souls I have met. Please continue to spread the light and stay happy always!

30 Days Of Gratitude

Patch's “30 Days Of Gratitude” is a series of articles exploring the intentionality of gratitude and featuring bits of wisdom from Patch readers. Come back to Across America Patch every day through November and read more.

Living with gratitude goes beyond merely being thankful. It doesn't mean pretending bad things don't happen, but rather savoring the goodness, according to experts on the topic, including Robert Emmons, a University of California, Davis, psychology professor who is known as the "father of gratitude."

In short, living with gratitude is "an affirmation of goodness" and a recognition of the good in the world as the source of our individual gifts, benefits and blessings. Gratitude is not singularly focused, Emmons said in a YouTube video for the Greater Good Science Center, but rather recognizes that the sources of goodness are other people who "gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives."

RELATED: Tell Someone In Pinole, Hercules You’re Grateful For Them