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Thanks A Thousand

A Gratitude Journey

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About this listen

 The idea was deceptively simple: New York Times bestselling author A.J. Jacobs decided to thank every single person involved in producing his morning cup of coffee. The resulting journey takes him across the globe, transforms his life, and reveals secrets about how gratitude can make us all happier, more generous, and more connected.

Author A.J. Jacobs discovers that his coffee—and every other item in our lives—would not be possible without hundreds of people we usually take for granted: farmers, chemists, artists, presidents, truckers, mechanics, biologists, miners, smugglers, and goatherds.

By thanking these people face to face, Jacobs finds some much-needed brightness in his life. Gratitude does not come naturally to Jacobs—his disposition is more Larry David than Tom Hanks—but he sets off on the journey on a dare from his son. And by the end, it’s clear to him that scientific research on gratitude is true. Gratitude’s benefits are legion: It improves compassion, heals your body, and helps battle depression.

Jacobs gleans wisdom from vivid characters all over the globe, including the Minnesota miners who extract the iron that makes the steel used in coffee roasters, to the Madison Avenue marketers who captured his wandering attention for a moment, to the farmers in Colombia.

Along the way, Jacobs provides wonderful insights and useful tips, from how to focus on the hundreds of things that go right every day instead of the few that go wrong. And how our culture overemphasizes the individual over the team. And how to practice the art of “savoring meditation” and fall asleep at night. Thanks a Thousand is a reminder of the amazing interconnectedness of our world. It shows us how much we take for granted. It teaches us how gratitude can make our lives happier, kinder, and more impactful. And it will inspire us to follow our own “Gratitude Trails.” Adventure Travel Friendship Personal Development Personal Success Philosophy Relationships
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Another interesting and engaging AJ Jacobs adventure. I love that it makes you think about how you show gratitude, how people may receive thanks and how we should be more grateful for the everyday things we take for granted (and that can quickly frustrate us when they don't work quite right). It also reinforces the notion of interconnectedness, and reminds us that our social context shapes our expectations and our perceptions of others, and highlights that this is often as much about luck/chance as it is about our own efforts. So with that in mind I am grateful to AJ for taking the time to explore these issues and to share them with the world. I appreciate that he has the opportunity to do this so we can all learn from his experience. And I'm thankful for the joy and fun I had listening to this book, which brightened up my day, and was as much to do with AJ's style of writing and narration as it is the content.

Short, sweet and thought-provoking

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Much deeper than I expected, warm book with a good feeling. A good reminder about gratitude.

Beautiful book

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