For the month of February, we are very pleased to have NABBW members and co- authors, KATHERINE SCHERER and EILEEN BODOH as our Featured Authors.

In their own words Katherine and Eileen offer " . . . after our long personal journey of emotional and physical healing, gratitude truly does open one's heart to love. Since writing our book, we have realized our life's purpose. Gratitude is our chosen path and we are too blessed to be stressed . . . "

Be sure to visit this forum beginning February 1 as these authors share their life experiences and teach us all about Gratitude and about expressing thankfulness for life and for the many things that we take for granted. To read more about Katherine and Eileen, please visit their Web page at www.gratitudeworks.com.

This is very exciting! I truly believe that Gratitude works and I practice it daily in my life. I can't wait to learn more.

I've had a grateful list for decades. Some days only my toothbrush was on it!

This is one of my favorite topics. I'm ready to jump in.

Looked up the etomology for GRATITUDE as a jumping off point and for fun...

gratitude
c.1500, from M.L. gratitudo "thankfulness," from L. gratus "thankful, pleasing" (see grace).

grace
c.1175, "God's favor or help," from O.Fr. grace "pleasing quality, favor, good will, thanks," from L. gratia "pleasing quality, good will, gratitude," from gratus "pleasing, agreeable," from PIE base *gwer- "to praise, welcome" (cf. Skt. grnati "sings, praises, announces," Lith. gririu "to praise, celebrate," Avestan gar- "to praise"). Sense of "virtue" is c.1330, that of "beauty of form or movement, pleasing quality" is c.1340. In classical sense, "one of the three sister goddesses (L. Gratiæ, Gk. Kharites), bestowers of beauty and charm," it is first recorded in Eng. 1579 in Spenser. The short prayer that is said before or after a meal (c.1225, until 16c. usually graces) is in the sense of "gratitude." Verb meaning "to show favor" (c.1440) led to that of "to lend or add grace to something" (1586, e.g. grace us with your presence), which is the root of the musical sense in grace notes (1657). Gracious as an exclamation (1713) is short for gracious God, etc.

Grace = Virtue

Welcome Ladies! I'm so excited you are finally here! Wuhooo! Why not tell us all how Gratitude Works began. I know everyone would be interested in knowing.

And what exactly does your organization do?

Hello everyone. I am so happy to be a part of this organization. What a great idea. Let me tell you a little about us. Eileen and I both had a burning desire to do something that would make a difference in our world. We were writing down five things each day that we were grateful for and sharing them with each other and got so excited about how one thing led to another and how everything is connected that we decided to do our book. Now we are living our mission of touching lives with the spirit of gratitude. It is an important mission because we have learned that a lot of us think we know gratitude because we have been taught early on to say thank you and be appreciative when someone does something for us. But that is not the same as "living in gratitude," which to me is being grateful every day for every thing. Giving recognition to the things that bring us joy is one way to open our hearts. This doesn't mean that we wont ever have negative thoughts to deal with, but choosing to lift our thoughts higher with gratitude will help remove us from our victim status and empower us. And it is so much fun. Especially if you have a gratitude partner like we did. Eileen and I promote gratitude every chance we get. We have traveled together often and in a few weeks will be going on a Gratitude Cruise. Can you imagine that, a gratitude cruise? Gratitude is very popular at this time and is catching on more and more every day. We will be meeting Dr. Emoto who has studied the effects of the word "gratitude" on water. And we will be speaking for the "Thank God I" book series. We are very excited. Please send more questions and I will be happy to answer them. In the meantime, always remember, Gratitude Works!

First, WELCOME...

Meeting Dr. Emoto - how exciting is that! Hidden Messages in Water is simply amazing. I shared the book with my grandchildren. We had a good conversation while going through the many pictures.

[How] Are you reaching out to youngsters? Sure, some children are still being taught to say "thank you," along with other social niceties, but I don't think they realize what the implications are. Being in a graditudinal (took the liberty of making up the word) spirit is so removed from the "give me, give me" attitude the younger generations are living.

Thank you for your message. Dr. Emoto has a new children's book out also which we hope he has along on the cruise. He is really reaching out to change the world. He has been giving lectures thruout the US should you be interested in seeing him. I think they are listed on his website.

We hope to write a children's book on gratitude this year which would be for parents and children; so children could experience gratitude at an early age. Thanks, Eileen

SuperBowl Sunday creates gobs of gratitude in the sense that one day of the year people get together and have fun focusing on one single event.

Have a fun-filled day!

Eileen and Kathy