I decided I’m going to start every day with a Thank You note.

I am inspired in part from wanting to try and understand gratitude and from reading the book 365 Thank Yous. The author spent more than a year writing thank you notes after his life fell apart.

I’m about half way through the book. I like it, but I think it’s a bit overkill on details about his law practice (I’ve never had much interest in reading about the lives of lawyers). To each his own I guess.

I like the simplicity of the author’s approach. He shares some of his thank you notes and they are really no more than a few lines. Since I’m a writer, sometimes I can spend too much time on that kind of thing, but sometimes saying less is even more powerful.

I’m not sure if I have 365 people I can thank. Like the author, I’m sure if I try, people and situations (I can even thank places), will come out of the woodwork. I don’t have to send every letter. It’s more of the doing it, I think.

I was remembering last night about a friend of mine who has a great marriage, in her late 30s, just had a kid, and lives in an amazing location. I don’t know her very well, but what I do know is astonishing. It suddenly hit me that some of her low points in life were incredibly painful and it gave me perspective. I guess reading that book also offers a form of perspective.

This friend is a sex therapist and was married to another man in her 20s. She is also gorgeous and has an amazing personality. I only know this because another friend told me, but her first marriage ended because her husband cheated on her with her best friend. And this girl I know I guess ended up in the hospital. She couldn’t function.

And just look at her life now… It’s so beautiful.

photo by nurpax