Happy New Year!
The Waterford crystal sphere landed, music blared, confetti flew. Our scene at home was a little softer.
“I love you,” Ron whispered, holding me tightly.
“I love you. I’m so grateful to be with you, right here and right now,” I said.
We kissed, and a few minutes into the New Year, I realized I had no more tears. I suddenly felt buoyant and gave a little smile. Bring on the New Year. I was ready. Gratitude has no end.
Acknowledgments
A deep bow of thanks to the John Templeton Foundation for their support of this book and my research on gratitude. Dr. Barnaby Marsh has been generous with time, advice, and inspiration, and it has been a pleasure to work with Christopher Levenick, Ayako Fukui, Earl Whipple, Clio Malin, and the rest of the dedicated team. Their excitement about the power of gratitude has influenced the field—and me.
Alice Martell understood my idea from the beginning and I am thrilled and lucky to have her on my side. I couldn’t have a better editor than Jill Schwartzman, who nurtured and cared for my literary baby even as she welcomed her own adorable Owen. The entire team at Dutton has been a joy, and I am very fortunate to work with Christine Ball, Ben Sevier, Liza Cassity, Kaitlyn McCrystal, and Jess Renheim. Thanks also to Madeline McIntosh, Ivan Held, and the great Dutton sales force.
Many experts, doctors, psychologists, researchers, and academics were generous to me with their time and knowledge during this year. Their fine work is described throughout the book, but an extra nod of appreciation to Martin Seligman, Mark Liponis, Adam Grant, Yarrow Dunham, Paul Piff, Doug Conant, Brian Atkinson, Brian Wansink, James Arthur, Lord Alan Watson, and Henry Timms. I’m honored that you shared your work and wisdom. Thanks also to pollster Michael Berland, who collaborated so brilliantly on the national survey that launched this project and remains a font of smart ideas.
My friends have listened to me talk about gratitude for well over a year now, and for their encouragement and support, warm thanks to Candy and Leon Gould, Karen and Jacques Capelluto, Lisa and Michael Dell, Leslie Berman and Fred Mintz, Ronnie and Lloyd Siegel, Karen and Barry Frankel, Marsha and Steven Fayer, and Marsha and David Edell. My dear friend Robert Masello is never more than a phone call away, and those phone calls often get me through.
I have gotten great insights about gratitude from Jim Miller, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Shana Schneider, Emily Kirkpatrick, Allan Silver, Stanley Lefkowitz, Margot Stein, Vicky Smith, Beth Schermer, Lynn Schnurnberger, Daryl Chen, Linda Stone, Anna Ranieri, Susan Fine, and Ann Reynolds. They are fine examples of why it is great to be good. Dr. Henry Jarecki has been my longtime adviser and confidant and he always wins my greatest respect and affection. My mother-in-law, Lissy Dennett, remains my role model for how to live positively and I am very grateful for the strong and ever-deepening bonds with Nancy Kaplan, Robert Kaplan, and Chris Darwall and their wonderful families.
Much of this book was written at the Yale Club, and my thanks to the helpful team there, including the manager, the librarians, and the understanding staff members who regularly slipped me snacks.
My children, Zachary and Matthew, are so terrific that I could fill endless gratitude diaries describing how smart, kind, and perfectly wonderful they are. Having beautiful and talented Annie as part of our family now makes me feel very lucky. Readers of this book know that my husband, Ron Dennett, is handsome, funny, caring, and thoughtful and that I am one lucky woman. I know it, too. He gets mentioned last because he is the one person I can count on to always read to the very end.
Looking for more?
Visit Penguin.com for more about this author and a complete list of their books.
Discover your next great read!
*Fortunately, the ethical wills sat in the safe until each boy turned eighteen, at which point I gave them the missives on their birthdays. No harm at that age having a letter saying how much Mom loves you and what she hopes for your future.
*Bill Gates recently was back at number one, and with the grateful view his philanthropy has provided, he probably only cares how he can use that money for good.
*I invited Brian to lunch at the Four Seasons restaurant when I ran a big magazine, and he arrived ten minutes late, sweaty and embarrassed, having gone to the Four Seasons Hotel by mistake. I tried to make a joke about the space-time continuum, but having raced seven blocks, he just wanted ice water. It didn’t change my admiration for him.
*The first round was done at Britain’s Common Cold Research Unit. A lovely name—but it no longer exists.
*This line has been misattributed to poet Maya Angelou and even appears now on a stamp with her portrait. But no, it was originally from Ms. Anglund. I had many of her sweet books as a child.
*The grateful prisoners here include UFC fighter Jeremy Stephens, footwear mogul Steve Madden, and Real Housewife of New Jersey Teresa Giudice, but there are many more.
The Gratitude Diaries Page 26