Dash of Courage: 77 Things to be Thankful for

"Don't forget to lift someone up" -Roy T. Bennett

Author

Garrett Gravesen
November 28, 2025

"Don't forget to lift someone up" -Roy T. Bennett

I keep a note on my phone. Odd, Fun, Unique, Quirky little things to be Thankful for. Maybe one of these resonates with you, or at least makes you smile this holiday weekend.

  1. Short Naps...whenever possible.

  2. Long conversations...with fascinating people

  3. That you've made it this far

  4. Aperol Spritz on a sunny day

  5. Greenlights. And the book "Greenlights" by McConaughey

  6. Building something you believe in

  7. Handwritten thank you notes

  8. Three day weekends

  9. A tuxedo...clearly

  10. Goodwill Hunting

  11. Sour Patch Kids

  12. Nailing a speech

  13. Browsing the shelves at a bookstore

  14. Jackson. Tyson. Jordan. Game 6.

  15. The book "The Alchemist"

  16. College Football Saturdays

  17. Underdogs

  18. Optimists

  19. Bold Goals

  20. The phrase "What didn't kill you makes you interesting at parties"

  21. Doing hard things

  22. Permission to be Awful

  23. Second Chances

  24. Wearing your heart on your sleeve

  25. 1st day of Summer

  26. Best friends in real life

  27. A message that says "Saw this and thought of you"

  28. Grassroots and Wow

  29. Slicing a champagne bottle

  30. Whitney Houston's Super Bowl Performance

  31. Cape Town, South Africa

  32. The book "Tuesdays with Morrie"

  33. The phrase "If you do nothing unexpected, nothing unexpected will happen"

  34. Spicy Margaritas

  35. The phrase "It's never too late to be who you might have been"

  36. Choose Your Own Adventure books

  37. Kyoto, Japan

  38. Solid Karaoke performance

  39. Finding a great podcast

  40. The Courage to do the thing that scares you

  41. Opening presents on Christmas morning

  42. Suits & Harvey Specter

  43. Die Hard as a Christmas movie. It is.

  44. Meetings that end early

  45. Singing along to "Sweet Caroline"

  46. Cheering someone on

  47. A great toast (words, not food)

  48. Sitting next to someone fun at dinner

  49. Getting a call from someone you haven't heard from in a while

  50. Mom's & Dad's that tried their best

  51. Hosting a theme party, and people nail the theme

  52. Anyone that says "let me know how I can help"

  53. A great song on the radio

  54. When Starbucks spells your name correctly on the cup

  55. When someone says "You get me"

  56. The movie Love Actually

  57. When you nail parallel parking

  58. Visiting a new place for the 1st time

  59. Post it Notes

  60. The phrase "If it's not Wow, it's not worth doing"

  61. Finding out you're in the clear

  62. A brand new Journal

  63. Watching a sunset

  64. Buying ridiculous shoes

  65. Making a Bucket List

  66. Amazon packages that arrive just in time

  67. Rice Krispie Treats

  68. An old-fashioned love letter

  69. A passport and plane ticket

  70. Hitting your number in Roulette

  71. When someone says "Nice Haircut" and it actually is

  72. Time changes, and you get an extra hour

  73. Espresso Martini

  74. Delayed gratification

  75. The Ripple Effect of Courage

  76. Giving it another shot, after you fail

  77. Someone that believes in you

Dash of Courage
Gratitude doesn't just warm your heart. It strengthens your courage.
When you remember what's good, you become braver about what's next.

I would love to hear which one (or two) of these sparked something inside you.

Courage over Comfort,
Garrett