
Affectionately known as "America's #1 Success Coach," Jack Canfield is the originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a leading authority in the areas of self-esteem, achievement motivation, and peak performance. [www.jackcanfield.com]

Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. [www.huffingtonpost.com]

Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. [www.squidoo.com/linchpin]

Krishna Kaur is the founder of YOGA for Youth, a program that takes yoga, meditation, and stimulating discussions on the philosophy of yoga to urban youth. [www.yogaforyouth.org]

Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. [www.normanlear.com]

Leilani Münter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist who uses her voice in the number one spectator sport in America as a catalyst for change. [www.leilanimunter.com]

By going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed modern slavery's penetration into the global economy. He co-founded Free the Slaves, which has helped to liberate thousands of slaves. [www.freetheslaves.net]

Sophie Chiche, lifebyme.com founder and curator, enjoys asking deep questions and living a life of meaning. Today she's launching Shape House, an urban sweat lodge, a place to melt away fears and fat. [www.shapehousela.com]

Entrepreneur and writer Mastin Kipp founded TheDailyLove.com, which merges pop culture with inspiration, and co-founded The Love Yourself Company, an apparel company that has started a global self-esteem movement. [www.TheDailyLove.com]

Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. [www.lizphair.com]

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who address some of the world's most pressing problems. He works energetically for human-rights and in his ministry. [www.tutu.org]

Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. [www.womenforwomen.org]

Despite his physical challenges, Sean Stephenson has taken a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. He's a professional speaker, psychotherapist, and author. [www.timetostand.com]

Kia Miller teaches Yoga at Yoga Works in Los Angeles, leads teacher trainings, and runs retreats and workshops on meditation, chakras, pranayam, and mantras, and other practices. [www.kiamiller.com]

Simon Mainwaring is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, former Worldwide Creative Director at Motorola/Ogilvy, branding/advertising writer, author/speaker/blogger, Australian, idea geek. [www.simonmainwaring.com]

Shannon Bindler is a style editor, life coach, and the co-founder of Get Up Girl, an empowerment company that inspires women to shine. [www.getupgirl.com]

Grammy-nominated art director/designer/photographer Mathieu Bitton has designed over 450 CDs and movie posters. He's a renowned collector of and authority on black films and their soundtracks. [www.candytangerine.com]

Opus Reps founder and agent-producer Jorge Perez travels the world producing photo shoots with great photographers and celebrities. He's also very involved with Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles. www.opusreps.com
gratitude

Eldrick Bone
I have developed the skill to see gratitude in everything. I even grow to love the things that suck. That is a skill I have developed. It is easy to complain. There is a lot to complain about. Some people are really good at that. Beauty is in my eyes, in my sights. That’s why my November, my month of gratitude, runs for 365 days. Maybe sometimes longer.
Maggie Munts
Beautiful and authentic freedom accompanies the realization that you are perfectly complete just as you are in this moment. Gratitude is an all-you-can-eat buffet. There are so many options because there is so much that is present in each moment. I’m pretty sure this is why there is so much food at Thanksgiving. We are celebrating the abundance in our lives that is already present. You can be grateful when you receive a gift, but you can also be grateful when you receive a gift in disguise. Even if the only thing you learn from an experience is that you never want to do it again, that knowledge and clarity is something for which you can be grateful if you choose.
Ben Hubbard
My generation is on the cusp of inheriting the world, so naturally we are a little excited. First, we are educated, and specifically aware of the value of an education. Second, we are a generation that is more connected than ever before. We unknowingly have begun to see the world as a community, in which what affects one may just as well affect us all. We may not seem grateful, but we are. Most of us know that by learning as much as we can, we can arm ourselves against that most tragic of things: ignorance. To those who handed me the world, and one day to those who will lift the burden from my shoulders, for that knowledge I am most grateful.
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