THANK YOU!

I am indebted to Whitney Johnson for the idea of writing 30 thank you notes over 30 days to 30 different people. She mentioned it in her “Weekly Wisdom” newsletter of October 27.  If my daily practice continues on schedule, I will hit 30 on Thanksgiving weekend. What I have been doing is to identify people who have done something out of the ordinary that I consider extraordinary. Many of them do not see it that way as they are who they are doing what they do, being themselves day after day.

Expressing gratitude for specific gifts given graciously and selflessly puts a laser beam of light on acts of kindness, compassion, service, and generosity.  I identified numerous people among my connections –  family members and associates who contributed to my work and my life over the past many years, some going back as many as 75 years, some as recent as the past 2-3 years.  Each of them gave me something of lasting value that left an indelible impression, enriching my life experience along the way.  There are more than 30 and I chose these particular people because of their specific gifts to my work and life.  There are others who are good friends some of whom are regular subscribers to this blog. I want to also thank and recognize all of them for their continued support.

There were those who, in one way another, made my life easier and others who helped solve a problem or complete a project.  There were those who encouraged and supported me when I may have needed a little extra help and others who asked questions that were penetrating and probing that took me to a deeper level of reflection and discernment.  Some who are no longer with us and who I cannot thank in person provided the occasion to write to their survivors who are still alive. That makes a case for being sure to say thank you personally while we still can.

According to research, gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. In addition, there is evidence that gratitude reduces envy, and makes us more resilient.  These findings should be sufficient to persuade anyone that the benefits of gratitude are real and lasting.  The doubters may want to conduct their own experiment and record the results. The expression of gratitude would need to meet the tests of genuine, heartfelt and sincere.  It cannot be the words without the accompanying thoughts and feelings.

For the past several years, I have subscribed to a Word For The Day post from https://grateful.org  and end up sharing many of those expressions with other gratitude practitioners.  I am grateful to grateful.org for their good work on this front and by passing along the quotes, my hope is to spread some “seeds of hope” for a better, kinder, more loving world.  Here was the Word For The Day when I wrote this draft: “What is love? Gratitude. What is hidden in our chests? Laughter. What else? Compassion.” – Rumi

May this Thanksgiving season be one in which you find your own unique way of sharing gratitude, not only for what you have received but also for what you are able to give.