Up Your Gratitude

"Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets." -- Nido Qubein, Author and Speaker

Up Your Gratitude

About three years ago, a man named John went out for hike on New Year’s Day. He was feeling down and at an all-time low. He was overweight. His law practice was losing money.  He was entangled in a divorce and living in a depressing apartment.  The woman he’d been dating recently had broken off their relationship.  While on the hike he decided that he would stop focusing on all he wanted and what he had lost, instead he would begin to be grateful for what he had. An idea popped into his head – to express a year of thank you. And the project transformed his life. 

John began to see how he had been blessed by so many people in different ways and as he acknowledged their blessings, his blessings began to multiply.  As he thanked colleagues for directly cases to him – they referred more. He expressed gratitude to clients for paying promptly and they did so even more quickly.  His thank you notes told people how much their kindness meant, and they started to respond and reflect the same message back.

John’s 260^th thank you note went to a Starbucks barista named Kimber, when he wrote how her working on Thanksgiving made such a difference. He acknowledged that the time and effort she took to learn his name and greet him each day made him feel like a person and not a number. The small things can make such a difference.  Kimber nearly broke down reading the note which made her realize that what she did at work did count.

It took him 365 days but every day John succeeded in writing a thank you to express his gratitude to a different person every day. His life is changed because of it and he wrote a book called “A Simple Act of Gratitude,” by John Kralik.

What if we all started right now to do the same?  Let’s up our gratitude.  Grab a pen and paper (or stationary or card).  Let’s not do this in an email but rather take the time to share our gratitude so it is received with proper impact.  Handwritten notes are special as though we are there with the person.  

Next, be specific. You can write someone who has given you a present: “Dear So-and-So," identify the gift (“the beautiful scarf”) and say one sincere thing about why you like it (“It is perfect to keep me warm during these cool months”).

After thanking your close friends and family, write to people who helped you at critical moments. Reach out to a doctor who helped, or a banker, or a janitor, a waitress, the postman, anyone who showed up for you in a way that makes a difference.

Keep it short – your message does not need to be long, just heartfelt. Keep your focus on the thank you and other person’s kindness which can be done in a few sentences.

Please let me start here by saying to YOU from the bottom of my heart:

“Thank you, all you Dare to Dream radio show listeners for making my dream come true. This show would not exist without you. I show up each week to share inspiration and an amazing interview guest. And because of you there are millions of people out there hearing the shows, getting it and changing your lives because of it.  Thank you being the most amazing, considerate audience – how did I get so lucky?  On a daily basis I receive feedback from you - your upbeat, positive comments mean everything. It keeps me and this show going.  And last, my sincere gratitude - many of you are out doing this work too – having goals and dreams and doing what it takes to make your dreams your reality. I could not do this alone; I am so thankful and appreciative that you are on this ride with me.” 

-- With love, Debbi Dachinger

In the words of Kahil Gibran:
“You give but little when you give of your possessions.  It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”