"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."- William Arthur Ward
Coming from a Korean family, we do not say "thank you" a lot. It also might be because our family is socially stunted. We just sort of assume, "You know how I feel. So, let's not talk about it." Sometimes, you hear thank you so much from service industries that it's just white noise. But, Sarah Ban Breathnach, the author of Simple Abundance, says that letting someone know you appreciate them or thanking them for their help encourages that other person to remember that good, fuzzy feeling and in turn repeat the kindness.
I had a job interview this week and immediately wrote a thank you note when I got home from the interview. I delivered it and got an email the next morning thanking me "so much for the sweet card!" and inviting me to another meeting to discuss the terms for employment. Wahoo!
In addition to making it a habit of thanking people more often, Ms. Noel suggests thanking "three people who have made a difference in your life-- or even your past week." Lee Breslouer wrote letters of appreciation to companies he liked and some of them responded with coupons for free stuff! But we're all different, if you know what that person likes, do that. If you don't, think about something someone did for you that made you feel special. Maybe you were sent flowers, treated out for coffee or lunch, or given a random present or phone call. Do that for another person. I'm sure they would appreciate it.
