Hanging Out With Grateful People

Last Sunday I went on a hike with a friend from the city. She drove 90 minutes to my house and I drove us to the trailhead.

The November morning was reasonably warm, but the wind was blustery. She’d brought along her walking sticks and apologized for her hobble. “My knee has been aching lately and I don’t want to injure it.” 

“This is a fairly level trail,” I told her, “and we don’t have to be in a hurry.”

The path was wide enough to walk side by side, and with our slow pace it was easy to have a conversation.

She told me about the projects she was working on: volunteering at a college and simultaneously serving on the board at a retirement community. Even though she could retire, she told me, “You know, I’ve always got to have something going on.” And she does.

We came to a bench and sat down. She leaned her walking sticks against the bench and turned her face up toward the sun and the trees. 

Tamaracks, a deciduous conifer, populated the forest. Their needles, golden brown, lit up the landscape. She took a deep breath and smiled. “I’m so grateful to get out of the city and take a hike with you.” 

My friend always sees the glass half full instead of half empty. She makes lemonade from her lemons and sees the silver lining. In other words, she is a grateful person.

She’s had her share of financial and relational trials and tribulations, but she does not let her circumstances rob her of her gratitude. 

We ascended the last hill, and she stopped to take a picture. “Do you know what happens as we grow older?” I asked her.

“Yes, we walk more slowly,” she said with a smile.

I quoted a verse from Proverbs I’d read earlier, “The ways of right-living people glow with light: the longer they live, the brighter they shine.” 

We descended the hill with the sun still shining brightly. 

Why Bother?

Why bother hanging out with grateful people? The longer we walk beside people who are grateful, the more we begin to glow because their gratitude is contagious.