Rita Watson/ Providence Journal/ November 27, 2011
Sitting on my desk right now is one of the most beautiful thank you notes I have ever received. It has blue stenciled flowers with tastefully embedded “diamonds.” Shouldn’t we all have a few sparkles in our lives?
How did I happen to be the recipient of such a note? In my never-ending quest for finding the ultimate use of space, I have been re-arranging furniture again and clearing out closets and clutter.
In sorting through my scarves, I found many that I might give away, but a sheer pink one with seed pearls seemed to be perfect for a striking dark-haired neighbor. And so, without even wrapping it beautifully, I left it at her door with a note. Now I have one regret; I wish that I could have found my box of designer bags and wrapping paper.
Her thank you note to me reminded me of how important it is to be ready to give a little gift and have a gratitude space to be able to write a thank you note quickly and meaningfully.
On this Thanksgiving weekend, why not create a space in your home for thank you notes? Turn a table into your gratitude desk with just a space for gratitude.
Fill a basket with stationary, note cards, and even birthday cards.
Make certain to have at least two working pens in the basket.
Add at least one book of stamps and a little journal.
Here is the journal secret. Make a note to yourself whenever someone comes to mind whom you think should receive a thank you note and date it. When you send out that note, add that date as well.
What you will often see is that too much time elapses from the day in which you said to yourself, “I should write that person a note,” and the day you actually get to write it, stamp it, and put it into the mail. And no, e-mail does not have the same power as taking the time to hand write a note.
Get yourself into a gratitude mood. Then send a note to someone in your family for no reason other than to say, “You are special.”
Rita Watson, one of our Relationship columnists and a regular op-ed page contributor, is an author, mother and incurable romantic. You can reach her at ritawatson.com.