Words and Wisdom: A Daily Gift

Thousands of people enjoy Word for the Day daily. We’re grateful for the feedback we receive from members of our community, which has included positive testimonials, reflections, and questions about how we select quotes and how they might apply to one’s grateful living practice. Here, we illuminate the curation process for Word for the Day and offer possibilities for meaningful engagement with this beloved offering.

Our commitment to deepening the exploration of gratefulness asks that we look beyond the surface of gratitude…gratefulness as a practice invites the cultivation of presence, perspective, and possibility; Word for the Day exists as an extension of this framework.

The scope of grateful living stretches wide and reaches deep. Before, beyond, and around love, compassion, joy, belonging, sufficiency, wholeheartedness, and peace, gratefulness circulates with life-giving nourishment. We here at A Network for Grateful Living (ANGL) are committed to offerings that explore the breadth of this potential, including our ever-popular Word for the Day.

Sent 365 days a year to 68,650 people around the world, Word for the Day serves as a gateway to the heart of grateful living. For many, Word for the Day is the welcome sign on the door — the introduction in someone’s day, or in someone’s life, to both our community and to gratefulness as practice. The opportunity to step into this practice in any moment surfaces with our curated quotes, which serve as bite-size reminders to Stop. Look. Go. We offer the daily gift of Word for the Day as a text-only email as well as an image of the quote paired with stunning photography on our homepage and social media pages. We have also expanded the curation to print collections through our book Everyday Gratitude and our A Year of Gratitude page-a-day calendars, both of which pair the quotes with questions for reflection in brilliant visual format. Through these varied offerings, Word for the Day exists as an elegant array of meaning for those seeking it. 

Every year we receive hundreds of testimonials about how meaningful Word for the Day is.

Chosen quotes align with our mission, vision, and values and promote an expansive idea of gratefulness. The Gratefulness Team chooses Words for the Day collaboratively, selecting quotes that resonate with the majority of our staff. We consider the authors of quotes and aim to feature diverse voices, including a range of thought leaders, poets, novelists, naturalists, and religious and spiritual thinkers from across centuries and around the globe. The tone varies among uplifting, contemplative, serious, funny, inspirational, and playful.

An invitation to gratefulness through a light-hearted and hopeful lens of presence and perspective. Photo: Federica Diliberto

As has been the case since its inception in the early days of gratefulness.org, Words for the Day relate both explicitly and implicitly to gratitude and gratefulness, with some quotes speaking directly to these subjects and other quotes offering a more indirect or subtle entrypoint. We intend for Word for the Day to offer a source of resonance with life, illuminate ways of perceiving, and lift up questions that delve into what it means to be grateful: When we are grateful, what does it inspire in us? What are the expressions and outcomes of a grateful life? What possibilities arise through gratefulness? How does it relate to associated values of gratefulness?

A call to gratitude for the wonder that nature perpetually bestows. Photo: Mony Hemetsberger

Our commitment to deepening the exploration of gratefulness asks that we look beyond the surface of gratitude. Kristi Nelson, executive director of ANGL, reminds us that gratefulness as a practice invites the cultivation of presence, perspective, and possibility; Word for the Day exists as an extension of this framework.

An exploration of the power of a grateful heart. Photo: Linda Hannum

You might find that engaging with Word for the Day as a practice in and of itself opens you to new discoveries and opportunities. It could look like this:

1. Begin by closing your eyes and taking a few slow, deep breaths.
2. When you open your eyes, read the Word for the Day. You might choose to read the text-only email version first, then visit our homepage or social media pages to see the photo match. Or you might simply start with the photo-matched version.
3. Reread the quote as many times as feels right to you. You might try reading it aloud. Then let the words, and any associated images, rest for a minute or two without actively thinking, analyzing, or interpreting.
4. After the pause, begin to reflect. What resonates? What questions arise for you? How does the quote relate to your life? How does the quote speak to gratefulness in your life? What possibilities does the quote inspire?

Word for the Day offers abundant opportunity for exploration: Imagine the various ways that this quote has landed into the eyes and hearts of people from a wide variety of backgrounds and countries all over the world at the same time as yours. Consider different points of view, learn about new authors, and delight in eloquent prose and poetry. You might share resonant or intriguing quotes with others in your life, perhaps using the words as a springboard for meaningful conversation — you could even connect with others in the gratefulness.org community to explore the quotes, using our Gratitude Lounge and social media pages. Or simply let the words grace your day as a wave graces the ocean, a passing experience that leaves you and the words forever — however slightly — changed.

If you’d like to receive Word for the Day as a daily gift in your inbox, consider subscribing to our email list by clicking on the button below. Open your heart, expand your mind, and discover the depths. 

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You can also read our Word for the Day on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

We invite you to share a favorite quote, including the author’s name and the source of the quote in the reflection area below, which we’ll consider adding to our Word for the Day collection.