Monday, December 28, 2015

Artdog Quote of the Week: The Gift of Gratitude

If you celebrate a tradition of Christmas, that holiday is most likely now in the rearview, unless your family has had to adjust it to accommodate an eccentric schedule. 

It's bare (or piled with opened gifts on display) under your tree, the carols are all sung, the egg nog mostly drunk, and the cookies are crumbling to dust. 

But have you given that one last gift?

Did you wear yourself out for the holidays? Did you shop for gifts in crowded places, and strain your imagination for just the right gift for each person? Even if you paced yourself wisely, it was a lot of effort, wasn't it? 

Wouldn't it be nice to know someone actually noticed? Or even better: appreciated all you've done?

That's how we all feel, really. It's nice to know someone noticed, and appreciated the work we did. So before you start wondering if anyone even noticed what YOU did, consider whether you've thanked anyone for what they did for you.

My amazing daughter Signy is the Queen of Thank-You Notes. That girl gets them sent almost before the gift is fully unwrapped. Not sure how she does it, but she's faithful in her task, and eloquent in her individualized expressions of thanks. I am not such a paragon, but I deeply admire what she does.

Even cold-hearted capitalism has noticed the power of a simple thank-you, in business settings. We need to hear it. The validation improves our health, our outlook, our relationships. So don't be shy! Thank someone who deserves it!

Oh, and by the way . . . THANK YOU for reading this!


IMAGES: Many thanks to Angie Rowe’s “Gratitude and Thankfulness” Pinterest board, for the quote image, and to the Overture Group for the image of someone writing "Thank you." Their blog post on crafting thank-you notes is also worth reading.

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