It would be easy to complain about the winter weather we are receiving recently. It feels gratifying to gripe about getting up on icy mornings, having to don extra layers and do the back-busting labor that accompanies this challenging season. But even as we strive to stay warm, endure nail-biting commutes and seek the resources to heat our homes, the season evolves. In fact, we hit the midpoint on February 1 this year, and are now on our way to spring.

Meanwhile, the heart of winter pulses steadily within the passage of days we are given. How might we be present to the gifts that each of those days represents? The answer is simpler than we might think. 

In my last column I wrote about finding joy in the new year. Here’s an easy and yet profound way to move forward. If you want to be happy, be grateful. Begin by visiting www.gratefulness.org, the website of “a global nonprofit dedicated to helping people live with purpose through the transformative practice of living gratefully.” 

Once there, treat yourself to the five-minute soul-stirring reflection, “A Grateful Day” with Brother David  Steindl Rast. Then explore the tools and practices offered on the website.

“You think this is just another day in your life. It’s not just another day, it’s the one day that’s given to you TODAY,” Steindl Rast reminds us. “And the only appropriate response is gratefulness. If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this unique day is, if you learn to respond as if it were the first day in your life and the very last day, then you will have spent this day very well.”

Steindl encourages us to begin by simply opening our eyes and being thankful that we have eyes we can open. He encourages us to look at the sky and to contemplate the ever-evolving weather, to read the stories in people’s faces and to recognize that “life from generations flows together and meets you here like a life-giving water if you only open your heart and drink.”

Reflect on the daily miracles of sunlight and trees, water and air, nature’s wild expressions of beauty. Then reflect that beauty outward so that everyone you meet will be blessed by YOU. “Just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch, just by your presence. Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you,” invites Steindl Rast. “And then it will really be a good day.”