According to a national study on gratitude, funded by the John Templeton Foundation, it seems that 94% of Americans believe that people who are grateful are more fulfilled and lead a richer life, but less than half of us express gratitude on a regular basis. That makes no sense! Particularly given the events around the world shouted out on the news every quarter hour, it would seem logical and easy to be grateful daily just to be born in the United States, not to mention being grateful for things like family, spouses, children, health, friends, shelter and food. And if you live in Chicago, we can even be grateful for sporadic bits of sunshine magically appearing on the lake from time to time.
However, life is tricky and stressful, and I am embarrassed to say that days can sometimes rush by without the time to be grateful. So if the gratitude statistic above rings a bit truer for me, and maybe for you, than we would like, my most recent podcast of The Dinner Party on WGN Radio Plus will resonate with you.
On the podcast, I invite Janice Kaplan, author of The Gratitude Diaries: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform your Life, to join me at the WGN Radio studios for some delicious bites from Lyfe Kitchen. Over Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Squash and Quinoa Crunch Salad, Janice and I dish on the difference a little gratitude can make. To listen, click here.
Janice Kaplan (left) and Elysabeth Alfano at the WGN Radio studios.
Janice Kaplan is widely known for her achievements as a writer, television producer and magazine editor. As the Editor-in-Chief of Parade, the most widely read publication in America, she attracted some of America's best writers and biggest-name celebrities. Her own interviews with stars including Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon, and Daniel Craig received international attention.
Janice was deputy editor of TV Guide magazine and executive producer of the TV Guide Television Group, where she created and produced more than 30 television shows that aired primetime on ABC, FOX, VH1 and other networks. She began her career as an on-air sports reporter for CBS Radio and went on to be an award-winning producer at ABC-TV's Good Morning America.
Author and co-author of twelve books, her bestselling novels have been translated and published in more than a dozen countries. With titles like, The Men I Didn't Marry, The Botox Diaries and Mine are Spectacular, it is no wonder that her books, including The Gratitude Diaries, are read around the world.