Gratitude and the Power of Saying Thank You

With the holiday season upon us and the end of the year quickly approaching, I, like many of you, spend time reflecting on all the things that make up my life: family, health, work, friends and self. When doing so, I am left with the fact that I am far luckier than I deserve. I am married to my college sweetheart and best friend, we have two great kids, we are healthy, I have an awesome job where I get to spend time with incredible people that make me better each and every day, we have amazing friends and we support and are supported by a great community. And for all these things and more I am grateful.

If we truly look at gratitude, it can often come down to what we have versus what we want. Most of us should appreciate the many things we have over the things we want – things can almost always be worse. A.J. Jacobs, author of Thanks a Thousand, reminds us of the importance of realizing we don’t do everything by ourselves. In his book he writes about his quest to thank every single person who had a role – even a tiny one – in making his morning cup of coffee possible:  “I thank the barista, the farmer, the truck driver who transported the coffee beans, the folks who built the road for the truck, the people who painted yellow lines on the road so that the truck didn’t crash. In short, a whole lot of people.” The resulting journey took him across the globe, transformed his life and revealed secrets about how gratitude can make us all happier, more generous and more connected.

Maybe we should take a cue from Mr. Jacobs and spend some time expressing our gratitude to those that make our lives as positive as they are. Perhaps travel to exotic lands to meet everyone in a process may not be required, but realize even those around us that we interact with on a regular basis, deserve our gratitude. Take the time just to say thank you and let them know why their actions have meaning to you. Say it in person, write a note, make a call. Just say thank you…I am confident you will find there is much to be thankful for and I know they will appreciate it.