What You Need to Remember This Thanksgiving...and Every Day

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. I'm writing this post from my couch right now with a stuffed stomach, which means I took full advantage of the one day each year that we are expected to over-eat.

I love Thanksgiving because of the food (who doesn't?), but also because it's a holiday where we reflect on why we are thankful. I've been participating in the 30 Days of Gratitude challenge this month (I won't lie, I've missed a few days). This post expands on what I touched on in that post when I introduced the gratitude project.

The daily themes have helped me dig deeper to reveal gratitude for things other than what's usually top-of-mind - family, shelter and health. This project has reinforced that expressing gratitude as often as possible is a must. I've discovered that while I'm grateful for countless reasons, I'm really, REALLY thankful for friends and family who show care and appreciation. These are people who care about others just as much (if not more) than they do for themselves.

It's important to be successful in life (I realize success is defined in various ways), but it's just as important to make others happy. The most minimal expressions of care and gratitude can go a very long way. Here are a few personal examples:

• A client at my agency who I don't work with on a daily basis but who I have connected with on and off line mailed me a congratulations card after I got promoted. I would have more than appreciated a congratulatory message on Twitter because that's how we frequently communicate, so I really appreciated him taking the time to mail me a card.

• I did something nice for a friend/neighbor recently that probably only took up a few minutes of my day. As with the above example, I would have been satisfied with a text, phone call or e-mail to say thank you. Instead, my neighbor gave me a card and small gift. He wrote in the card that what I did made his wife and kids so happy.

• A friend who recently went to Europe sent me a postcard from Italy. I'm Italian, and she knows Italy is on my short list of cities I want to visit. I was really touched that she thought of me on her trip and made sure to send me a little piece of Italy.

The moral of the story: Find a way to express gratitude and show people that you care. This doesn't need to be in the form of a card or a gift. Words are powerful. And please, don't wait until next November when you're surrounded by reminders that Thanksgiving means it's time to show thanks. :)

**Photo credit

A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way

I am a self-proclaimed emotional sap. I've mentioned that in my blog before, and I'm sure I'll mention it many more times. I get choked up when I watch the news and see how the Red Wings took the Stanley Cup to Children's Hospital to visit with those poor little kids...and how a 90-year-old man who is finally getting his high school diploma is being honored.

I don't think people realize it, but expressing gratitude and taking the time to display random acts of kindness can make or break a person. We're all stressed...we all work too much, vacation too little and don't spend enough time with friends and family. We don't know how to take a minute to just sit back and relax (c'mon people, I know I'm not the only one feeling this way!). Life zips by you at 80 mph speeds. One day it's 15 degrees in January, the next day it's 95 degrees in the middle of June. So when someone goes out of their way to make me feel appreciated, or I witness this happening to someone I know, it makes my day...heck it probably makes my week! That's how much I appreciate knowing that I'm not taken for granted, and the way I live my life and the things I do for other people and my job/clients does not go unnoticed.

Two very spontaneous and random acts of kindness affected me and L-Pan (only four more days until it's officially L-Weber!) in the past week at work, and I can't express how much of an impact it made on the both of us. Of course we know we are appreciated. I would never work in a setting where I felt I was taken for granted. But according to The 5 Love Languages, I am Words of Affirmation...meaning I need to hear things to truly believe them. This may be my quote unquote love language, but I think it applies to all facets of my daily life. Deep down I may know that I do a good job at something or that I'm appreciated, but it won't really sink in until someone affirms it. I could be criticized for this, but hey I am what I am. So needless to say, the spontaneous expression of appreciation meant more to me than the tangible gift itself.

Being kind to others and caring more about someone than I do about myself makes me who I am. My best friend of 19 years lost her best friend and grandfather this past week. It broke my heart to see her in so much pain, and although I was looking forward to nothing other than dressing in 80's gear (check out the Facebook photos!) and celebrating Lauren's last weekend as a single woman, I took time out of my bachelorette celebration weekend and stood by my friend's side as she buried her grandpa. She told me how much it meant to her, and I appreciate that through her suffering she still expressed gratitude. So even though I balled my eyes out, I was happy to know that my presence alone brought her comfort.

Random acts of kindness and expressing gratitude for others can cure so much. There's even an Acts of Kindness Foundation! I know how much I appreciate the "little things" in life. Because it's really the little things that matter most after all...at least I like to think so.