When I began my journey to gratitude, it seemed easy to find examples of kind acts by people, fun pet moments, memorable acts of generosity between individuals, and so forth, but as this pandemic drags on I am observing more stress, more anger and frustration, greater impatience, visible sadness, signs of depression, instances of hopelessness, and fits of intolerance all around me. It is hard to stay grateful each and every day when you see and hear stories of death and dying, fights on airplanes and in shops over wearing or not wearing masks, lack of clarity on what will happen when school begins again, red States and blue States, and political disagreements.

How in the world does one stay grateful and joyful when there seems to be pain and sadness all around?