Josh's Weekly Insights - August 6, 2026

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.

-Denis Waitley

This week I was thinking about the concepts of happiness and fulfillment. I was working with leaders, and I remind them that we can’t be responsible for the happiness of our team members, but it is our responsibility to help them find fulfillment in the work we are doing together.

While thinking about this topic, I did what I often do and went looking for articles on the topic. I stumbled into a scientific article which I found fascinating (if you know me, you know I can be a bit of a nerd on these things). It discussed the positive effects of gratitude when it comes to living a life full of satisfaction.

This made me think about an exercise I have been doing with my oldest son. Sometimes he can get really frustrated and this leads to acting out and making poor choices. (Many of us can probably relate to that.) In order to help avoid this, we have started having “Thankfulness Parades.” Right now, you are probably asking, “What in the world is a Thankfulness Parade?”

When I see him getting frustrated, I will invite him over and ask him what he is thankful for. Once he gives me an answer, I will then tell him something I am thankful for. We pass it back and forth several times until the mood has shifted because we are all in a gratitude mindset.

Now, you might be thinking well what if he just doesn’t want to participate. In instances where he is really frustrated, he will tell me “Nothing” or something similar. So, I will start the parade with, “Well I am thankful that you are my son.” This starts to shift his mood and then we can continue the parade.

My encouragement this week is that gratitude moves you closer to a fulfilling life, so make sure to take time to be thankful. No matter what is going on in your life, please remember there is only one person on this earth who “has it worse than every other human being on the planet.” I am willing to bet that it isn’t you, especially if you are reading this right now.

And if you don’t have someone else to have a thankfulness parade with, please send me a message and let’s start that parade. I would love to see one in the comments so share something positive happening for you right now.

Now get out there and crush your week!