'Thank You' is for Wimps!

In a recent newsletter we discussed the importance of expressing appreciation to those around us. I told about a guy who essentially thought saying "Thank You" is for wimps. Though you likely don't share that opinion, many of us regularly miss opportunities to model a spirit of appreciation ourselves and to express it to others. Yet those opportunities are all around us.

Last week I was trying to fly home from facilitating a 3-day project management workshop in Pittsburgh. Flights were delayed into O’Hare because of weather. Controllers directed our regional jet, with its share of crabby passengers worrying about connections, into a holding pattern where we all bounced around in the turbulence with each loop.

We had a last second missed approach due to runway traffic which further delayed arrival. I had a blistering cold walk through a snowy lot to get to my car. My window was frozen shut so I got another taste of Chicago’s arctic weather when paying the attendant.

Do you know what I was thankful for as I drove away from O'Hare? Seat heat.

Glorious, soothing heat was warming my body and soul as I started the drive home. From there I moved onto other things I was thankful for, such as the privilege of driving home to a family that I not only love but truly enjoy. I’m thankful I get to fall asleep next to my incredible wife of almost 20 years instead of spending another night in a smelly hotel room. I’m thankful that I get to make a living doing what I do best. I'm thankful for a peace with God that makes me excited about the future instead of fearful of it.

The gratitude flowed freely for the entire drive home, which made me much more pleasant to be around when I finally stepped into our warm home. And it all started with a little seat heat on a cold night.

What are you thankful for today? Who are you thankful for and need to tell? Make it happen. Today.

Here are some links for further reading:

"Staff Retention: The Power of Appreciation at Work", CIO.com
Our "World of Thanks" survey, including responses from people all over the world, expressing what they are thankful for.

I invite you to leave a comment to this posting regarding what you are thankful for today. By the way, I'm thankful for the opportunity to pour into you! Make today a great one!

Labels: appreciation, choices, leadership, teams

posted by Andy at 10:10 AM

Comments

THANK YOU for this reminder. I am thankful today for a boss that I respect. I am also thankful for a team that works hard without me having to crack the whip every day.

Boy, can I relate to this on all points! So much to thank the Lord for it is almost hard to capture in words or thought.

Andy, THANK YOU for being a Christ-like model of humble grace and appreciation. I love that about you!

Andy,

I am thankful for all the small things that add up to great big things that make life worth living. But most of all, I am thankful for my family. Yes, it's true we all had lives before we got married and had kids. But I would never go back (although sometimes there are those days...)

I am thankful for being married for the last 12 years to a fantastic loving wife who for some unfathomable reason still wants to stick with me. I am thankful for my two healthy and happy sons, who virtually everyday I come home from work greet me with a big smile and wonderful "Hi Daddy". Especially my 2 year-old, who says it with such energy and enthusiasm that it never fails to pick up my spirits regardless of the lousy day I might have had.

The Basics - Home, hearth and family. Not much has changed over the centuries as far as what we need to stay happy and thankful.

All the best.

- Howard

Just finished reading this posting. I am thankful too for all of the things you mentioned and thank God everyday for the blessings in my life, one of which was the day I started at ACNielsen and met you!