Thursday, June 24, 2010

radical gratitude

think you know what gratitude is? check out this interview with Andrew Bienkowski , whose experience writer Mary Akers details in her deeply-moving non-fiction book, One Life to Give: A Path to Finding Yourself by Helping Others. :

"Andrew Bienkowski grew up in Siberia, his family exiled by the Communist regime. In a life that began with nothing, living on soup made from discarded potato peelings, he learned that true wealth and happiness come from giving, and made his way observing the true value of gratitude, forgiveness, and understanding. With great humility and a smile, he weaves his plain-spoken wisdom with stories of survival and relationship, and the reminder that the things that really matter are available to each of us, every hour of every day. And of course, even the darkest days have their treasures to offer. As Mr. Bienkowski explains, "It's easy to be grateful for those things that are good. It's the very difficult, painful, awful experiences that are probably the most valuable because they teach us the most important lessons..."

No comments: