It's Monday morning and that means its time to write my thank-you notes to all the couples I've married over the past week. It's one of my favorite parts of the week. I think that showing appreciation is as gratifying to the one who gives it as it is to the one who receives it. I craft every hand-written note with care, remembering each couple's particular ceremony--the nuances and the highlights that made their public expression of love memorable and unique. Then I thank them for the honor of performing their ceremony. As I affix the stamps onto the envelopes, I sometimes feel a twinge of sadness that this is most likely the last contact I will have with these couples. It's a momentary flash, however, for I know my life has been enriched for having known them--if only for a few months.
My mother was big on having us write thank-yous. Every January it was an arduous task to sit down and write the many thank-yous to the aunts and uncles who'd remembered me at Christmastime. When it came my time to be a mom, I put my daughters through the same drill. I've not given it much thought until recently, but I am now seeing the importance of keeping gratitude front and center in my life. I find myself being grateful for the oddest things--things I've taken for granted in the past. Thinks like mangoes and a pillow that your head fits into just perfectly and a man in my life who does the dishes without being asked, and a car that starts up in cold weather and the potential for joy inherent in every day. And, although I know its a terrible cliche and I'm sounding like a Geritol commercial--as I grow older, each and every day, I am grateful for my health.
If you'd like to inject more gratitude into your life, it's pretty simple. just notice. Write it down in a journal, tick them off in your head before you go to sleep. Or you can do as my friend Barbara does and keep a stack of blank thank you notes in your purse or car and write them out on the spot to folks who give you excellent customer service or just make your day in some way. Whatever it takes--just plan to be surprised at how infectious gratitude can be. You'll notice more and more things to appreciate.
If you need help from an outside source, visit Go Gratitude for ideas and inspiration. Among other things, they promote the value of having a grateful heart as helping you to feel better instantly, enjoy supportive and synergistic exciting relationships, increase your prosperity and abundance, experience vibrant health, know peace of mind, supercharge your creative juices, magnetize the realization of your dreams and goals, and make a profound difference in the lives of many people.
Wowza! And all for free!
