“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melodie Beattie

Overview
Gratitude is the foundation of happiness. Practicing gratitude is like “going to the gym” for your emotional resilience. Lifting weights, yoga and jogging help keep up our strength, flexibility and endurance. Daily practices of gratitude and kindness build our mental fitness. In this podcast I speak with the Founder and CEO of Project Helping, Justin Kruger. We discuss how “gratitude in action” helps individuals and communities. Some daily practices we explore are:

1) Building a gratitude inventory through daily reflections or a Hope Kit.

2) Learning to give thanks freely, especially to those whose good work often goes unnoticed.

3) Giving yourself some grace and self-gratitude

4) Finding joy in intentional acts of kindness

Justin Kruger
About Justin Kruger
Justin Kruger started a social enterprise — Project Helping in 2014 after years of regularly volunteering himself in the community. Justin realized the power that volunteering had in helping him to overcome depression and suicidal thoughts and wanted to share that experience with others. The non-profit improves emotional wellbeing and authentic community connection through what Justin has calls kyndfulness, or a daily practice of volunteering, intentional acts of kindness, and gratitude. Justin also founded Kyndhub, an online community that similarly encourages people to do kind things for one another, and Kyndkit, a service that delivers volunteer experiences to communities and businesses — making it simple and fun to be kind. Justin also serves on the Marketing Committee of the Colorado Mental Wellness Network and volunteers at Urban Peak, a nonprofit working to help youth exit homelessness and create self-determined, fulfilled lives. For more information go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/53 Music provided by https://www.royaltyfree-music.com