a calm blue lake and blue sky with wispy clouds overhead

Stop.Look.Go

Highlights

Explore Stop.Look.Go through this curated collection of resources and practices.

Videos

Want to be Happy? Be Grateful.

by Br. David Steindl-Rast, OSB
In his talk from TEDGlobal 2013, Br. David addresses how grateful living can change the…
Articles

Cultivating a Practice: Grateful Living as a Way of Life

by Kristi Nelson
Cultivation is a form of practice and harnesses the energy of purposefulness. We can cultivate…

Gratefulness has three steps: not missing the opportunity, appreciating the opportunity, and using or enjoying the opportunity. By this method we come fully alive, full of joy, which is what we are all longing for.

Br. David Steindl-Rast

Grateful Living weaves greater awareness throughout all of our moments. Like other forms of practice, Grateful Living offers a way to approach, frame, and learn from everything that unfolds in our lives, allowing us to access deeper reserves of resilience and wisdom. When you commit to practicing something, you become its student. You become attuned to its presence and promise. The good news is that the path of practice is deeply merciful; there is no doing it wrong. There is only the gentle reminder and opportunity to return again and again to your intentions, perhaps just one more time today, or simply one delicious moment more than yesterday.

Br. David Steindl-Rast lays out a simple yet rich prescription for how to practice Grateful Living: Stop.Look.Go. Most of us know this maxim by heart from when we were children standing at the curb with an adult next to us. It helps us to harness our awareness, open all our senses, pay close attention, note the opportunities, and only then act purposefully. When we set out to meet the moments in our lives as if they are precious and truly matter, we cultivate attention, intention, and action: we stop, we look, and then we go. Following this rule preserved our lives as kids, and as adults it can help preserve our availability to the fullness of life.

Stop.Look.Go focuses us on cultivating three characteristics essential for a grateful life: presence, perspective, and possibility. When we stop, we become more present. When we look, we seek the gifts of a grateful perspective. When we go, we awaken possibility.

Excerpted from Wake Up Grateful: The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted 

Digging Deeper

For continued exploration, dive into these additional resources on presence, perspective, and possibility.

Sun shining over a range of mountains
Meditations

Life is a Gift: Guided Meditation

by The Grateful Living Team
Grateful Living is fundamentally grounded in the invitation to see life itself as a gift.…
A bee on a purple and yellow flower, amidst others
Meditations

The Ordinary is Extraordinary: Guided Meditation

by The Grateful Living Team
This short meditation offers an invitation to walk through your days taking nothing for granted,…
A woman holding a plant in her hand and looking off into the distance with text that reads "Fascinated by Nature"
Videos

Fascinated by Nature

by Green Renaissance
“The world that I dream of is the one that we’ve got because I think…
Water droplets on bare tree branches sparkling in the morning sun
Poetry

Awe

by James Crews
It’s a shiver that climbs the trellisof the spine, each tingle a bright whitemorning glory…
Young man wearing a straw hat looks up to the right at a butterfly sitting on the brim of his hat with text overlay that reads "To Live Simply"
Videos

To Live Simply

by Green Renaissance
In this Green Renaissance film, Christopher Leow shares the pain and disorientation of leaving behind…
A string of water droplets hanging off the bottom of a green leaf reflecting clusters of pink flowers
Programs & Events

Awakening to Awe: A 5-Day Practice

by The Grateful Living Team
Beginning Monday, August 21, please join us for this 5-day gratefulness practice that will expand…