Being a grateful person contributes to one’s overall good health.
AJ Jacobs read about the health benefits of being grateful, so he decided to thank someone before every meal for their part in bringing the meal. Maybe the farmer. Or the grocer. Or whomever.
His son one day observes, “Dad, that’s so lame.” “Why?” “No one can hear you say thank you.”
So…
Jacobs decided to say thank you to everyone involved in bringing him his morning coffee.
There was the barista. But then he went to Columbia to visit the farm where his favorite coffee was grown. They told him they could never grow the coffee without the help of about 100 other people. Among which was a machine used to separate the pulp of the coffee cherry from the bean. The machine builder in Brazil used steel made in Indiana. All told, in his book Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey, he tells of the thousand people he thanked for helping bring his morning coffee. Including the truck driver and the person who painted the yellow lines on the road so that the driver could make it safely.
He details this in a podcast of The Tim Ferriss Show you can download from Apple Podcasts or Overcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
I am thankful for people who blow my mind with research and books that broaden my understanding of people and the presence of the spirit.
Maybe you don’t want to go that far–and write a book–but try showing appreciation to the people who serve you today.
Faith Venture 
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