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Daily Question, November 8

What is the difference between feeling grateful and being grateful?

  • Laura May

    I believe that being grateful, is to outwardly demonstrate gratitude and hope to give back in some way. Feeling grateful is internal, warm and humbling.

  • Amor fati

    Being grateful is the trait I cultivate by my practice of cherishing and holding each experience of feeling grateful.

  • KTxx

    Being grateful is the moment of the action. Feeling grateful is the buzzing or sensational tones we feel after or while apprehending what we are grateful for

  • Ose

    Feeling grateful might be passing, being grateful is.

  • hpike

    To me, feeling grateful is an internal sensation. It is a warming of the heart that is felt when I recognize the beauty and gifts of life. Being grateful is an external action. It is giving back to people and things that have provided for me.

  • grateful sea

    For me, this is helpful to consider. Feelings of gratefulness are lovely to experience, but fleeting. Looking back over the last few years, I see that even when I am not “feeling” grateful, “being” grateful has become an orientation — a way of life that keeps me practicing, questioning, and seeking even in the darkest of times. Thank you, dear Gratefulness Team for creating and maintaining this site, for holding this space. Blessings of continued opening to all who visit here.

    • Ann

      Thank you, Grateful Sea for saying what is also in my heart.

    • Verena

      Thank you for being so mindful! I want to join in in giving Thanks to the Gratefulness Team and this lovely community here and want to add my deep gratitude to Brother David for his life work and inspiration 🎆

  • GCharlotte

    I am feeling grateful for all the joy I received from my loved ones and the Lord while being grateful for all that I have actively given to them for their merit and happiness.

  • Kevin

    In my view this is a silly question. Why? Because feeling grateful and being grateful live in the same neighborhood and are already friends and they’re walking towards the same destination.

    • grateful sea

      This made me smile, Kevin. You have been a constant on this site since (before) I joined and I am grateful that you are walking here with us.

      • Kevin

        Thank you, my friend. And I am grateful that this site is here, with people like you. I’m also grateful for the good works of the team that runs this whole program and for the life-long ministry of Brother David.

    • Pilgrim

      Yes – my thoughts, as well. I can’t think of when I would stop and think, am I feeling grateful or being grateful?!

  • Ann
    As we know, by definition, a feeling is a sensation and the word “being” is used to identify an inherent feature, quality or character of nature. Does that mean that someone could “feel grateful” without having a grateful quality or character? I would choose to believe that because I’ve heard that the words “thank you” exist in all or nearly all languages and that many animals have been determined (without anthropomorphising) a way of showing appreciation, that all living beings d...

    As we know, by definition, a feeling is a sensation and the word “being” is used to identify an inherent feature, quality or character of nature. Does that mean that someone could “feel grateful” without having a grateful quality or character? I would choose to believe that because I’ve heard that the words “thank you” exist in all or nearly all languages and that many animals have been determined (without anthropomorphising) a way of showing appreciation, that all living beings do have an inherent quality of gratefulness, and that something (maybe fear) may stand in the way of feeling it.

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  • Lexi

    For me, feeling grateful is more about an internal emotion, whereas being grateful is not only feeling it, but expressing it outwardly as well.

  • Verena
    I was given the opportunity to contemplate this question for some time, kind of a life-saver…..that’s what I came up with : feeling grateful is an emotion, and emotions are fleeting whereas being grateful is an attitude based on the observation of the interconnectedness of life. when feeling grateful I want to spontaneously spark that feeling and share it with others. and yet I can feel sad and frustrated while being grateful at the same time. on the basis of being grateful I make the big ...

    I was given the opportunity to contemplate this question for some time, kind of a life-saver…..that’s what I came up with : feeling grateful is an emotion, and emotions are fleeting whereas being grateful is an attitude based on the observation of the interconnectedness of life. when feeling grateful I want to spontaneously spark that feeling and share it with others. and yet I can feel sad and frustrated while being grateful at the same time.
    on the basis of being grateful I make the big decision in which I try shape my life into an expression of gratitude. when emotion and attitude meet, a glimpse of a reality beyond words flares up.

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    • grateful sea

      Dear Verena, I am delighted to find that our answers are so similar… though you are truly eloquent! I love how you express this… “when emotion and attitude meet, a glimpse of a reality beyond words flares up.” Beautiful. Thank you.

  • Tom Denham

    I don’t know. This question does not energize me and I think I will be okay without an answer. One of the things I have come to appreciate as I get older is that I can often do very well without coming to a conclusion. I can feel and be grateful without defining grateful.

  • Carla

    Feeling grateful puts a smile on my face or brings a teary eye from being surrounded with a blanket of gratitude. “Being grateful” moves me into Action-sharing the abundant Grace I’ve received, ie., financially -buying that $1.00 Dixie cup of lemonade from an enthusiastic child’s corner spot; physical labor-helping a neighbor rake a yard; bringing treats along to share communally with others.

  • Malag
    I was initially drawn to the analogy of love. Many's the couple that parted because they didn't feel love and yet weren't taking action to nurture the love: the old adage that love is a verb. Does looking for a payback of feeling grateful miss the point of gratefulness as the act of noticing and appreciating? Thinking further on it I think being and feeling grateful are two sides of the same coin. To really appreciate I have to be with the experience. And being with the experience brings fort...

    I was initially drawn to the analogy of love. Many’s the couple that parted because they didn’t feel love and yet weren’t taking action to nurture the love: the old adage that love is a verb. Does looking for a payback of feeling grateful miss the point of gratefulness as the act of noticing and appreciating?

    Thinking further on it I think being and feeling grateful are two sides of the same coin. To really appreciate I have to be with the experience. And being with the experience brings forth the feeling that I am grateful. But looking for a payback of a warm fuzzy feeling probably undermines the experience, makes it a bit artificial.

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  • Mark Piper
    Is that not the difference between "weather" and "climate" or the difference between a fickle feeling and an innate character trait? One tends to "receive" or "do" feelings based upon external factors: actions done to us, words said to us. One tends to "be" based on internal factors, no? Perhaps a false dichotomy and/or not the best metaphor but in the Christian tradition would this question not be a way to meditate on the story of Martha (doing/keeping busy busy Christ came) and Mary (s...

    Is that not the difference between “weather” and “climate” or the difference between a fickle feeling and an innate character trait?

    One tends to “receive” or “do” feelings based upon external factors: actions done to us, words said to us. One tends to “be” based on internal factors, no?

    Perhaps a false dichotomy and/or not the best metaphor but in the Christian tradition would this question not be a way to meditate on the story of Martha (doing/keeping busy busy Christ came) and Mary (sitting, listening, and being, because Christ came)?

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  • Michele

    Feeling grateful is personal whereas being grateful implies sharing/expressing that feeling.

  • Sarah

    Feeling grateful is in my head, being grateful is in my heart. 💝

  • Anneclaire

    I think the emotion alone is more superficial and shorter lived, and can have, for me, a somewhat frenetic intensity. Being gratefully is more deeply rooted, more calm, like a deep well of water that can be returned to and drunk deeply from.

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