The art of gratitude
As our world becomes faster pace I believe that the art of gratitude has become lost. I remember as a child, one of my grade school teachers stressed the importance of not only saying thank you when someone does the smallest thing for you (such as holding open a door or giving you a piece of their candy bar), but she also stressed the importance of writing thank you notes to show you cared about larger acts that were done (such as receiving a gift or help). The act of writing the thank you note showed that you were truly gracious that the person actually took the time out of their lives to think about you and care about your needs. I use to always have a stack of cards next to me when I was younger and use to send letters out all of the time. I would send thank you cards via mail. I remember how joyous an event it was to get something in the mail. I couldn't wait to see what jem of knowledge may be inside the letter, be it a thank you or a bit of knowledge of how people were doing. The note was a truely personal event because it was directed at me and not at anyone else.
As the information superhighway has proceeded to become larger, I believe people have become more callous about the way they interact with one another, which ultimately affects the way they show gratitude. People post blanket information and statements without it directed at any one individual. I admit that my skin had thickened up as well as I have learned to do the same. Ultimately when it comes to gratitude I have learned to send only a text message of "thanks", a quick e-mail of gratitude, or (the worse) not sending anything at all (thinking that the person knows that I am thankful)..
As I read the "Last Lecturer" book, one of the points that he stresses is the importance of providing hand written thank you notes to people. This lesson cracked my slowly hardening exterior, for it reinformed the previously instilled lessons from my childhood.. It made me remember the joy of receiving *REAL* mail and that someone was grateful enough, even for a moment, just to take the time out to say thank you in a meaninful way. I don't know if I can get back to my old ways, but I think I need to have a stack of thank you cards laying around the house again to allow the possibility of old habits being renewed.
As the information superhighway has proceeded to become larger, I believe people have become more callous about the way they interact with one another, which ultimately affects the way they show gratitude. People post blanket information and statements without it directed at any one individual. I admit that my skin had thickened up as well as I have learned to do the same. Ultimately when it comes to gratitude I have learned to send only a text message of "thanks", a quick e-mail of gratitude, or (the worse) not sending anything at all (thinking that the person knows that I am thankful)..
As I read the "Last Lecturer" book, one of the points that he stresses is the importance of providing hand written thank you notes to people. This lesson cracked my slowly hardening exterior, for it reinformed the previously instilled lessons from my childhood.. It made me remember the joy of receiving *REAL* mail and that someone was grateful enough, even for a moment, just to take the time out to say thank you in a meaninful way. I don't know if I can get back to my old ways, but I think I need to have a stack of thank you cards laying around the house again to allow the possibility of old habits being renewed.