I received a thank you note from a young woman as her assignment for a college psychology class.
This unexpected delight had a bonus: it was delivered in person and read aloud to me. The shared sentiment was beautiful and felt lovely to receive, yet the best was yet to come.
In the midst of reading through tears and smiles, she stopped to exclaim “I am just so proud of myself!”
We both overflowed with happiness in that moment. It was thrilling to witness her realization that she was the one who had orchestrated her own transformation. Happy dance. Hug. Tissues.
This made me write a global thank you note to all psychology teachers.
“Thank you for teaching the students the positive benefits of gratitude via writing thank you notes. I’ve received a few of these in my life and they meant the world to me. I’ve felt such appreciation for the writer, been inspired by their courage and kindness, and was motivated to continue helping others. This real life teaching tool worked both ways and led me to realize the importance of sending my own thank you notes.”
I remember writing thank you notes as a child after every birthday, Christmas, and special occasion.
Truth be told, I did them because I was required to by my parents. It was a struggle to fill those small notes with the right words that somehow conveyed my gratitude without sounding scripted. I truly felt the appreciation for people’s kindness, yet it was an awkward task as a child and teen to translate my feeling into the written word.
As an adult who has grown into the comfort of expressing gratitude with words, it is now a pleasure to write, type, text, or voice my appreciation. I do it often.
“Dear Mom and Dad, thanks so much for holding me responsible for sending thank you notes for every darn gift I ever received. I didn’t know it at the time, but that practice created a beautiful mindset and lifetime habit of translating my feelings of gratitude into action. I never thought of the impact a thank you note had on another person when I was a kid. I get it now.”
Research in positive psychology, brain science, and mindbody medicine have demonstrated that practicing gratitude has the potential to lead to greater happiness and health.
Cultivating gratitude as a mindset may increase levels of self-esteem, optimism, and empathy, as well as bolster your immune system, decrease stress, and improve sleep. As expected, feeling gratitude and taking the action to express your appreciation has the potential to improve relationships.
When you take the action, such as writing a thank you note, you are bringing the inner feeling of gratitude into form.
When you are engaged in a healing process after someone hurt you, you may come to a time when your gratitude and compassion inform your understanding.
The thank you note becomes a ritual of release and forgiveness as the self empowering action of healing emerges.
Write from the heart, read it aloud, and then rip it up to let the energy flow out from your newfound understanding into the world.
This ritual empowers you to transcend challenging times and define how you choose to be present in your life.
Ripples of healing happen in the world even when you’re not directly communicating your feelings or new understanding.
Imagine a world where you mindfully considered the gifts given by others, large and small, and took the time to share your heartfelt appreciation for the giver and the impact on your life.
Exciting discoveries in neuroscience reveal that your brain responds to offering and receiving appreciation. You are actually wired to “catch” the feeling of gratitude.
When someone shares why they’re grateful for you, it inspires you to step into that higher version of yourself. And pay it forward. Very quickly the ripple effect of gratitude is felt in your body, mind, energy, and your relationships. It becomes second nature to share your appreciation with strangers and pause to let those you work, play, and live with know why you are grateful for them.
Should you text, call, write a thank you note, or send a gift of gratitude?
That’s totally up to you. Yet, I’ll make a suggestion. Do your own research. How does it feel to quickly fire off a text of thanks. Or receive one. How does that compare with taking the time to write and mail a handwritten note. Or receive one. Is there any added benefit by adding an in person call, a hug, or bringing a small gift? Or receiving any of the above.
Gratitude enhances wellbeing. It changes how you relate to the world from the inside out.
And thus, it changes the world from the outside in. Thanks for that. I’m really excited to live in a world with a human family who easily expresses appreciation and goes out of their way to let others know why they matter.
Design your own gratitude experiment.
And someday in the future, drop me a line to let me know how it’s going.
Peace be with you and with all. No exceptions.
Positive psychology researcher Martin Seligman explored 5 different gratitude practices. Writing and delivering a detailed Gratitude Letter had the greatest positive impact on happiness, measured one month later, of the 5 practices. Participants who received the greatest benefit delivered and read the letter aloud versus those who merely mailed it. Yet, 6 months after delivering the Gratitude Letter, participants’ happiness levels dropped back to where they were prior their gratitude visit. It’s time to put pen to paper, forgo the stamp and show up in person. Repeat often.
Learn the one essential skill that allows you to face any challenge with confidence, sturdiness, and inner calm.
More than a technique. It’s a game changer.
ia Sophia has arrived. This “Way of Wisdom” offers an invitation to step upon a Living Spiral Path and discover a new understanding of what it means to embody the Mystical Feminine.
For the past fifteen years I have lived and taught within the Mystical Feminine. I have sat within many circles and immersions with women as we explored how to practically and powerfully engage Feminine wisdom in everyday life.
When my daughter was in eighth grade, she and her Girl Scout troop were beginning to explore ideas for their individual Silver Award projects.
Around our dinner table, we tossed around possibilities. Nothing landed. Nothing stirred real interest. So we encouraged her to do what we have always trusted. Stay open. Listen. Pay attention to what people are talking about in the world.
Driving into Soul Sanctuary last weekend, I noticed the trees were engaged in a wild dance.
I should have paid closer attention as I got out of the car, because the wind nearly took me with it. Walking to the door, I had to lean in and brace myself for a moment just to stay upright. The cold whipped through my clothes and found every uncovered space, sharing its bone-numbing chill.
We recently had a big snow in my neck of the woods.
Everyone was hunkered down. The fridge was full, chicken soup was bubbling on the stove, and my book pile sat patiently on the coffee table. As the snow covered the neighborhood and the plows dumped fresh mounds over our carefully shoveled walk, we took turns peeking outside.
As a kid, snowstorms were pure joy.
“I think we need to be friends.”
Those were the first words out of my mouth when I introduced myself to Rev. Hilda Covington. We’d just finished a county meeting of nonprofit mental health and social service agencies. She was the presenter that month. We almost didn’t meet because Hilda arrived an hour and a half late to a two-hour meeting.
Life has a rhythm. It speeds up and slows down according to mysterious forces.
Your personal rhythm dances with the celestial bodies, seasons of the year, developmental phases, and the pulse of your Soulful evolutionary process. Living in harmony with these rhythms is in many ways hard to understand as it is a complicated and deeply personal process. Your rhythm dances with everyone’s rhythm in the grand Cosmic Dance.
