Do you think we could change the world if hundreds, thousands of us started to say thank you more often?
Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, had a personal philosophy that she taught her sales reps. She sent out three handwritten thank you notes every night before bed.
Not only did this allow her to express gratitude to the people she met and did business with, but it helped her to maintain a positive attitude all day long as she sought out people to say thank you to.
Oprah Winfrey talks about keeping a gratitude journal, where you write down five things you're grateful for every day. What if, instead of writing them in a journal, you sent them in a card. That would improve not only your life, but also the lives of the people who receive them.
Too hard, you say? You don't have enough time to write three handwritten cards a day? How about just two? Heck, how about just one? And what if there was a way you could send out one handwritten note in five minutes? Would you do it? What difference do you think it would make in your life?
Can you find one person a day to thank? How about the waitress who served you lunch? Or your neighbor for shoveling your walk? How about your spouse for taking out the trash or washing the dishes or cooking a fine meal or just for being your spouse? What about your child or your sister or your pastor or your teacher? What about thanking the person who made the biggest difference in your life?
Lately I've been having fun thanking people I don't know personally. A pastor/writer whose resources I'm using right now. The hosts of a radio show. Someone whose website I benefited from. And some people I don't know all that well, like the new activities director at my mom's assisted living facility.
My next project is to thank people whom I don't particularly like right now. It will do me good to think about something I can thank them for. And then I want to thank the people who have made a profound impact on my life.
Who would you like to thank?
No comments:
Post a Comment