In A Girl of the Limberlost, Gene Stratton-Porter writes, “The world is full of happy people, but no one ever hears of them. You have to fight and make a scandal to get into the papers.” Here is your opportunity to hear the good news: Every day people like you build a grateful world through acts of creativity and compassion.

NOTE: We add new items monthly so if you read a piece of grateful news on a reliable website, please send us a link.

Seven women who shaped the world in 2011

Women played some significant roles this past year, from making peace to crafting economic policy in the midst of a crisis. Read about Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, and six others who shaped 2011.  » Full Story

A Wadi Runs Through It.

Treated for years as a dump and a sewer, the wadi has been the focus of a 10-year-long restoration project. In November 2010, it became one of the few environmental engineering projects to win an Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and it has won over plenty of fans in the Saudi capital. » Full Story

Advice From Life’s Graying Edge on Finishing With No Regrets

Most of us learn valuable lessons about how to conduct a successful and satisfying life. But for far too many people, the learning comes too late to help them avoid painful mistakes and decades of wasted time and effort. Enter an invaluable source of help: practical advice from more than 1,000 older Americans from different economic, educational and occupational strata. » Full Story

Navigating Love and Autism

Because they have a hard time grasping what another is feeling — a trait sometimes described as “mindblindness” — many assumed that those with such autism spectrum disorders were incapable of, or indifferent to, intimate relationships. But Jack and Kirsten are taking this journey of discovery and working hard to succeed. » Full Story

Edith Widder's New Crusade

The marine biologist Edith Widder has spent a career studying bioluminescent sea creatures. Now she is using the phenomenon to fight pollution.  » See video

Raspberry Pi: Rise of the $25 computer

British group Raspberry Pi aims to inspire young programmers with a computer so inexpensive that schools could hand them out to students free of charge.
» Full Story

America's disappearing post offices

The post office has long been a core part of almost every community in America. Evan Kalish is trying to visit as many as possible before they disappear. So far he has collected post marks at more than 2,700 post offices across the US.
» See video

Trendy threads from waste

The environmental impact of the global textile industry is hard to overstate. One-third of the water used worldwide is spent fashioning fabrics. Pratibha Syntex could lead in the next textile wave: low-waste, recycled cotton.  » Full Story

In the Company of Animals, Healing for Humans

The Gentle Barn is a six-acre ranch in Santa Clarita, Calif. The facility heals and rehabilitates abused farm animals and invites visitors with emotional and physical challenges to interact with them. Bonding with animals is a life-changing experience for many.  » Full Story

Grateful-ology: Science & Research on Gratitude

“Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic,” wrote John Henry Jowett. If you start practicing grateful living now, your marriage could improve, you might be exercising more, feel less depressed, sleep better, have a healthier heart, more life satisfaction, and increase your chances of living longer. » Full Story

On the Road: Elephant loses man's best friend

For nearly a decade, Tarra the elephant had been best friends with a dog named Bella -- a mutt who wandered onto sanctuary grounds and into the heart of the gentle giant. Steve Hartman has a sad update to a story of compassion between the most unlikely of friends.  » Watch video 
(See the earlier story about this truly inspiring friendship.)

Your Life: Gratefulness brings difficulties into focus

Life brings challenges, uncertainties, disappointments, losses and heartaches. What gratitude does for is in the midst of those times is to shape our attitude in a way that enables us to survive, keep living and even grow from the experience. » Full Story