30 Days Of Gratitude: Oprah Winfrey Is All About It, Too

ACROSS AMERICA — Oprah Winfrey has been preaching the gospel of gratitude for several years, calling it the “single most important life practice” in a post encouraging readers to adopt it in their own lives.

The talk show host, media executive, actress and billionaire philanthropist launched her seven-day gratitude challenge Sunday on Oprah Daily.

“For me, gratitude is something that is necessary, and that you practice every day. ... What you focus on in your life expands, so focusing on what you’re grateful for increases positive vibrations and feelings of joy,” she wrote. “One good feeling builds on another good feeling and another. If you actively appreciate all that you have in life, no matter how small it is, what you’ll notice is you will end up having more.

“And when you hone in on what you don’t have, you never have enough. Being grateful allows us to fill in the cracks and crevices between what we desire and what we already have with positivity, so we can pave the way for grace to show up and lead to an even better life.” » Read more on Oprah Winfrey’s Gratitude Challenge

Patch explores the intentionality of gratitude in "30 Days Of Gratitude." Come back to Across America Patch every day through November and read more about gratitude.

Living with gratitude is more than saying "thank you." For some, it's as simple as making a deliberate choice, "an affirmation of goodness" in the world, according to Robert Emmons, a University of California, Davis, psychology professor known as the "father of gratitude."

Experts say that practicing gratitude isn't pretending bad things didn't happen, but rather savoring the goodness in our lives and understanding that being grateful begets more goodness.

Here are five more quotes about gratitude from Oprah Winfrey:

“Here's the gift of gratitude: In order to feel it, your ego has to take a backseat. What shows up in its place is greater compassion and understanding. Instead of being frustrated, you choose appreciation. And the more grateful you become, the more you have to be grateful for.”

— Excerpt from “What I Know For Sure”

“The single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have right now. And the more grateful you are, the more you get.”

— Nov. 24, 2011, Facebook post

“Gratitude is its own energy field. When you acknowledge and are grateful for whatever you have, it allows more to be drawn to you and changes the way you experience life. Grace is transformative. The more grateful you are, the more grace mirrors the gratitude that you have.”

— Excerpt from "The Wisdom of Sundays"

“Gratitude is the single greatest treasure I will take with me from this experience.”

— Final episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show"

“Being grateful all the time isn’t easy. But it’s when you least feel thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you: perspective. Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It’s the quickest, easiest most powerful way to effect change in your life — this I know for sure.”

— Excerpt from “What I Know for Sure”

Read More

• Opera Singer 'Died,' Lives As Pianist
• Teach Kids To Be Grateful By Example: 30 Days Of Gratitude
• Pay It Forward By Volunteering
• GivingTuesday A Chance To Show Gratitude

Find Your Patch

Patch is in more than 1,000 communities across America. Find your community and see what's happening outside your front door.