I came across an article from a long recycled magazine. I had torn the article out and stuck it in a drawer. The same drawer that has my how to pray the rosary book, a journal I never write in and my notebook full of high school writing assignments.
The article was written by a man that spent one year writing thank you notes to anyone and everyone that he wanted to thank. It was a powerful story of bridges built, guilt released and relationships reborn. He wrote thank you notes to his deceased parents. He wrote thank you notes to high school teachers. He wrote thank you notes to the service station attendant that honestly repaired his vehicle, to the barber who made him look good week after week, to the building super who kept the light bulbs changed and the flowers growing.
This article inspired me to do the same thing. Taking the time to thank people in writing would drive home how fortunate I am. It would also make me stop me busyness and focus on something positive. I set this out to be one of my new year's resolutions. I wrote one letter. I suck at new year's resolutions.
I was rummaging through this drawer looking for a bookmark. I had borrowed a book so I could not dog ear the pages. I needed a bookmark. It made sense that there would be a book mark in the drawer that I open...never.
Not much to my surprise, there was no bookmark. Just an article that I needed to reread and reimplement. I am going to aim a little lower this time and try for a thank you note a week. Some folks will get them and think I am looney. Others will think, What the Hell?, and then some will be like me when I get a thank you note. When I get a thank you note in the mail, I stop sorting mail and focus on the letter. A thank you note takes time to create and I think it deserves my time to read it. No skimming. No standing by the recycling bin. I savor the thanks, appreciating the time it took for them to construct the note.
I might just read that article one more time and follow the author's lead again.
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