zingzone
Above is a thank-you note I received from Oban, the four-year-old grandson of our neighbor, after he and I fed cracked corn to the two ducks in our community’s pond.
(It reads: “Dear Sam, Thank you for taking me to feed the ducks. Signed, Oban.” And, as you can clearly tell, the artwork shows two ducks, along with three pieces of corn.)
Oban’s grandmother tells me he wasn’t prodded into writing. Rather, he quietly created the note on his own, then marched right over to present it, strongly suggesting it might look good on our refrigerator door. He was right.
After a week or so, Oban’s masterpiece moved to a spot on my office wall. I smile every time I look at it — and I’m also reminded of the importance of acknowledging and expressing gratitude.
“Silent gratitude isn’t much used to anyone,” said J. B. Stern. And William Ward wrote, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
Gratitude pollinates and flourishes when we let it show — and when we express it to people who have inspired, taught and supported us along the way.
“No one who achieves success does so without the help of others,” said Alfred North Whitehead. “The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.”
I believe what we focus on expands. Thanks to Oban’s thank-you note, I’m recommiting to expressing gratitude more often to people in my life — past, present and future.
Want to join me?