Just Say Thank You

Who else sucks at saying thank you enough?

I’m still feeling guilty about some of the wedding shower and baby shower gifts I never got around to writing a cute little note of thanks for.

So, um, if I owe you a thank you note for anything kind in the world that you did for me: thank you, thank you, thank you.  Please forgive me for being a big, fat jerk.

We all know that the simple fact of saying thank you or having an attitude of gratitude overall goes a long way in your overall appreciation of life.  Not to mention the fact that is makes our friends feel appreciated, builds relational intimacy and creates a desire in us to see the good in people.  Which, in turn makes us feel happier.

Last week, my spiritual director challenged me to begin writing down five things I’m thankful to God for each night.  This is a practice she’s been faithfully living out for more than 20 years! A spiritual discipline she calls “the bedrock of her faith.”  She starts each post saying thank you to the Lord in with a different language each day.  Her list contains enough “thank you’s” in other languages that she only uses English once a year!

She encouraged me to begin looking throughout the day with a greater awareness of how God is present in my life then recording them each night briefly.  It’s not a treatise.  Just a few lines to tell the Lord how thankful you are.

Would you like to join me?

Even if you don’t believe in God you could write something along the lines of… “I’m thankful for a sunny day.  I appreciated how great it felt to leave the cold, sterile, air-conditioned office and step into the heat of August.”

Another alternative is to direct your thanks to a spouse, parent or your child.  I.E.  “I appreciate your humor,” & then give it to them after a year of recording your honest thoughts about what you appreciate about them.  Can you imagine how that could transform a relationship? My spiritual director did this for her husband for 17 years!  She’s such an amazing, inspiring woman.

If your interested, here’s the dealio:

I bought a handy-dandy $5 pocket 2010-2011 calender that looks like this…

I use the space provided to write the five things I’m most grateful for each night…

I’m committing to a daily dose of thankfulness to God until the calendar runs out on June 30, 2011.

Just 6 days of incorporating this new habit into my life and I feel so thankful for my husband and my 2 precious boys.  I haven’t been able to not thank God every day in drippy specificity about how wonderful they are.  I also sent an oozy, drippy, sappy email to some of my friends who I really appreciate.  It wasn’t enough to just let God know how great they were.  I needed them to know as well.

I’m really excited for how I see this bringing more peace & contentment to my often-wanting-everything-I-can’t-have sort of life.

I’d love if you joined me!  It would great to write a post next year with a reflection on how this new tradition changed me & I love to hear if it impacted you as well.

By the way, thank you for reading this post. 😉