DW's Blog

Gratitude and Generosity

by DW Green — June 11, 2025

“Gratitude moves stagnant energy when we’re feeling stuck in life.”

Lakota author and activist Doug Good Feather writes about gratitude and generosity with wisdom that speaks to our deepest need for hope and connection. I connect with his words, and for a moment, clarity cuts through the noise of our divided world. In times when it feels easier to focus on what’s wrong, what’s missing, or what’s broken, his perspective offers a different path forward. I ask that you take a few minutes and read Mr. Good Feather’s thoughts on gratitude and generosity—wisdom we need now more than ever.

“Each and every morning offers us a chance to start anew, fresh, and to begin again. Each morning when we wake— should we choose to listen—is a message from the Creator to remember the privilege we were given of waking up. It’s a reminder to get up and prepare ourselves, to honor ourselves, to go out into the world, to connect with Mother Earth and the hearts of other beings, to inspire and encourage those who cross our paths, and most importantly, to enjoy life.

Gratitude and generosity are similar virtues, but they differ in that gratitude is an internal characteristic and generosity is our external expression of our sense of gratitude. Basically, gratitude is how we feel, and generosity is how we express that feeling out in the world…

When we engage with the world from a place of gratitude, it’s the difference between trying to make something happen and allowing something to happen. The defining difference between effort and effortlessness is the virtue of gratitude. We see the quotes and memes from the sages and gurus that talk about gratitude. But why is gratitude such a core concept of joy, contentment, and well-being in our lives? The ancestors tell us there are two primary reasons. The first is that a person cannot exist in a place of fear and true gratitude at the same time. The second is that gratitude is the doorway to divine intuition, which allows us to be guided by our connection with the Creator.

Gratitude moves stagnant energy when we’re feeling stuck in life. The simple act of practicing gratitude disrupts negative thoughts and changes our mindset to see the world in a positive way. Not only are we more attractive to others when we live in gratitude, but the most ordinary things can become extraordinary, creating a fuller, more beautiful expression of our lives.

You’ve probably heard the old saying, ‘Things don’t happen to us, they happen for us.’ Gratitude is the foundation of that adage. It means that our mindset has to be that the universe is generally conspiring and working in our favor. Frequently, when something that we perceive as ‘bad’ happens to us, we let it affect us in a highly negative way. But if we interact with the world from a place of gratitude, when something happens that others may perceive as ‘bad,’ we just see that experience as ‘interesting.’ We are curious about why something happens the way it does, and in expressing that curiosity, we’re actively seeking the part of the experience that we’re grateful for.”

As we navigate these challenging times, Doug Good Feather’s wisdom offers us something our world desperately needs: a way forward that doesn’t require us to ignore reality, but rather to transform how we engage with it. When division seems to dominate our daily conversations and uncertainty clouds our collective future, choosing gratitude becomes not just a personal practice, but a quiet act of resistance against despair.

The truth Good Feather illuminates is both simple and revolutionary: we can acknowledge the difficulties around us while still choosing to see each new day as a gift, each interaction as an opportunity, and each challenge as something that might—if we’re curious rather than fearful—teach us something valuable. In a world that often feels like it’s pulling apart, gratitude becomes the thread that weaves us back together, one authentic connection at a time.

Perhaps what we need most right now is exactly what Good Feather describes—the courage to wake up each morning and choose to see the world as conspiring in our favor, even when the evidence seems to suggest otherwise. That choice, multiplied across communities and hearts, just might be the foundation for the healing and hope our world is seeking.