November 18, 2025
Some days the universe hands you a theme on a silver platter. Today’s Thought of the Day and Question of the Day both orbit the same sun: gratitude, age, and the way life gently (or not so gently) reshapes our priorities over time. In this post, I want to explore how a simple “thank you” can change your life, and why getting older makes you appreciate things you used to rush right past.
Thought of the Day: “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is ‘thank you,’ it will be enough.” — Meister Eckhart
There are two kinds of gratitude.
There’s the obvious kind, the one we trot out at Thanksgiving while passing the mashed potatoes, listing the usual: family, friends, health, the fact that your team didn’t lose too embarrassingly last weekend.
And then there’s the other kind, the kind Eckhart was talking about. The everyday thank you. The quiet thank you. The thank you you whisper to nobody while standing in the kitchen at 5:30 a.m. holding a cup of coffee that finally hit correctly. The thank you you think when your kid laughs from the other room, or when your headache magically dissolves, or when you notice the traffic light stayed green just a second longer than you expected.
When I was younger, gratitude felt like something you saved for the big things—graduates, weddings, life milestones, impressive wins. Now I’m older (not old, but definitely not new), and gratitude feels like a survival strategy.
As Eckhart says, if “thank you” is the only prayer you ever say, it’s enough. I used to roll my eyes at quotes like that. Too poetic, too vague, too embroidered-on-a-pillow. But now? Now I see the point.
“Thank you” isn’t about being polite. It’s about noticing.
Noticing keeps you alive in a deeper way.
Noticing keeps you from missing your own life.
And honestly? Noticing is something I’m trying to get better at.
Today, I’m practicing.
Today, I’m saying thank you.
And today, that’s enough.
If you haven’t had enough, you may like this post about making a difference.
Question of the Day: What’s something you appreciate more now that you’re older?
The list grows every year.
When I was a teenager, I thought the best things in life came in neon lights, loud sounds, and big moments. Now I’m older and the things I appreciate most usually wear sweatpants and show up uninvited. Peace and quiet. A clean kitchen. A good pen. A night where all three kids go to sleep without a plot twist.
I appreciate mornings now. Not just the caffeine, but the clarity. There’s something about getting older that turns morning into a reset button. When I was twenty-one, morning was the enemy. Now it’s a friend who wakes you up gently and hands you another chance without asking for anything in return.
I appreciate conversations that don’t feel like battles. I appreciate people who make life lighter instead of heavier. I appreciate days that don’t need explaining. I appreciate the luxury of changing my mind.
And I definitely appreciate my parents in a way I never could when I was younger. There’s a moment, usually somewhere in your thirties or forties, where you suddenly realize, oh, they were just guessing, too. Nobody had a map. We were all improvising. That realization alone has softened a lot of old edges for me.
I also appreciate the quiet courage it takes to keep showing up for your life, even when things feel messy or overwhelming. There was a time when I thought being an adult meant having everything figured out. Now I realize it’s mostly about continuing to try.
If you want to go deeper with a similar idea, try this post about wise men speaking because they have something to say.
So what do you appreciate more now that you’re older? Because the questions that grow with you are the ones worth asking.
If today’s Thought of the Day and Question of the Day stirred something in you, I’d love to hear your answer. Leave a comment on the post and share what you appreciate more now that you’re older.
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