The Thank You Note Project

I’ve had the item “Write a thank you note every day for a month” on my Life List for a long time. It was inspired by Patti Digh (who inspires me all the time) who started writing a thank you note every morning and has continued the practice. I love the idea of saying thank you, and of being grateful for someone specific every single day.

I’m nearly done with my 21-day “No Complaining” challenge. Let’s just say that I definitely didn’t make it 21 days without complaining. But it was great to become aware of ways I can show my gratitude, and ways I can be more positive. I think the biggest thing I realized is that when you meet others with kindness and thankfulness, you often get it in return, which means there’s less to complain about.

I’ve also realized how easy it is to not be thankful in day-to-day life. I find myself feeling grateful for the people in my life every day, sometimes because of things they’ve done, but mostly because of who they are. I’ve tried to get better about letting people I know that I appreciate them. I used to feel really insecure and scared when I’d pay someone a compliment via email or in person, until I realized that was silly: who DOESN’T want to hear nice things and ways that they’re appreciated? No one. This project definitely makes me a bit nervous, but I’m also really excited.

I decided that I would tackle this Life List goal during November, to add to the usual gratitudes expressed in conjunction with Thanksgiving. Every single day, I’m going to write a thank-you note and mail it to someone I appreciate (with a few emails sprinkled in for those addresses I don’t have!). I’ve started making my list and I am looking forward to doing this.

I’d be so delighted if a few of you wanted to join me in this challenge! It’s simple! I am using Google Calendar to make a plan for who I want to write a note to each day. I’ve got a great stock of thank-you’s and I feel ready to go! I’m going to try and pick a similar time each day to write — most likely before I go to sleep so I can mail the note the next morning.

I’m planning on going the whole month, but if you want to join in for a week or two, feel free! You could even pick one day (i.e. write a thank you note every Monday for the month) or a few times per week.

Are you in? Leave me a note in the comments!