Gratefulness: Taking Nothing for Granted

In this 2024 conversation with Justine Willis Toms, Kristi Nelson, a cancer survivor, affirms the deep joy that springs from simply being alive. Her struggles with stage IV cancer led her to explore the practice of gratefulness. And she’s discovered that living with gratefulness is more than just another task to perform -- it’s an orientation to life. Nelson counsels us to avoid getting caught in the hamster wheel of life, forgetting that the present moment is truly all we have, and it’s both precious and fleeting. She suggests that the practice of gratefulness is a direct pathway to the qualities of mind and heart that lend themselves to our well-being as it spills over into an experience of true abundance. She can attest to the fact that grateful living adds to the stamina we need for our journey. It also enhances our relationships to the larger world to which we belong.

Kristi Nelson is an ambassador for the nonprofit organization Grateful Living, which is founded by the internationally beloved “Grandfather of Gratitude”, and former guest of New Dimensions, Brother David Steindl-Rast. From 2014 to 2022 Nelson served as its Executive Director. Kristi Nelson has spent more than 30 years in nonprofit leadership, development, and consulting, working at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and the Soul of Money Institute. She is the author of Wake up Grateful: The Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted. (Storey Publishing 2020)

Interview Date: 1/31/2024      Tags: Kristi Nelson, grateful, gratitude, gratefulness, Brother David Steindl-Rast, poignancy, poignant, not knowing, curiosity, Personal Transformation, Psychology