There’s currently an amazing event taking place around the social web called Tweetsgiving. Part of the Epic Change organization led by Stacey Monk, Sanjay Patel and Avi Kaplan, Tweetsgiving is a global celebration that aims to change the world through the power of gratitude.

Its aim is to continue the wonderful work started at last year’s inaugural Tweetsgiving, where a classroom was built in Tanzania. You can read the full story of Tweetsgiving here. This year, the event is being taken to another level with a far loftier goal, but the message remains the same – changing the world through gratitude.

So here’s my take.

Gratitude is a state of mind and an emotion of being. It’s a constant. It’s the knowledge that no matter what, you have a network around you to keep you going, even in your darkest times. Friends; family; loved ones; colleagues; even virtual strangers online that have somehow become some of the most important people in your life.

It’s never giving up, because you’re thankful for the lessons learned even when failing. It’s acknowledging your weaknesses; your frailties; your mortality, and loving yourself for it. It’s about recognizing the same faults in others yet loving them for it as well.

It’s about genuine emotion. Raw, down-to-the-core emotion with no barriers.

Gratitude is all about the word it shares much of its letters with – attitude. We can choose to be ignorant. We can choose to be negative. We can choose to be naysayers, and put people down.

But that’s easy. Anyone can do that, and do it well. Gratitude, though? Full, 100% gratitude? That comes from the attitude of complete untethered belief that the world around us, the world of us, is a good place. Or can be.

That’s what’s happening over these 48 hours between November 24-26 2009. People with good hearts – with grateful hearts – making a statement. Drawing a line in the sand. Planting their placeholder and saying, “I’m grateful.”

That’s where change lies. That’s where real gratitude and honest hearts lie, and I’m grateful that we’re a living part of that.

This post was created as part of a global groundswell of gratitude called TweetsGiving. The celebration, created by US nonprofit Epic Change, is an experiment in social innovation that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude. I hope you’ll visit the TweetsGiving site to learn more, and to bring your grateful heart to the party by sharing your gratitude, and giving in honor of that for which you’re most thankful.

photo credit: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³