Give Thanks

I want to wish everyone the Thanksgiving they enjoy most whether it be a game of football in the backyard or a day of lively conversation with multiple generations of your family.

While the focus is still on thankfulness I would like to recommend two books to carry that feeling well into 2012.  John Kralik's 365 Thank Yous and Deborah Norville's Thank You Power:  Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You are both excellent books.

Kralik's book is the story of how gratefulness changed his life through daily thanks usually in the form of a written thank you.  Since I enjoy writing this concept appeals to me.  Feeling grateful toward others is one thing, expressing that gratefulness shares that positive energy, but actually sending a note extends that feeling longer.  The first appendix to 365 Thank Yous is a guide to writing thank-you notes.  Kralik's notes were not always sent for physical gifts so this advice is helpful.  He also makes a case for sending real paper and pen notes of thanks rather than email notes.  Much of the focus in Kralik's book is how he turned his life around through gratefulness and how we can do the same.  Having been on the receiving end of some special and heartfelt notes by students over the years I can attest to the amazing power it can have over the receiver as well.

Norville's book covers the spectrum of what she is calling the "Science of Gratitude".  Much of her text is secular in nature but the tenth chapter does contain a message for those with religious background.  The introduction states Norville's approach very clearly: it is common sense that to be happy you must look at what you have, not what you are lacking.  This basic principle in Thank You Power carried throughout the book with examples and research findings.  I thought the examples were a strong part of this book.  They reminded me of something I knew, deep inside, that even when things are not going well we can focus on something good in our lives.  The rewards are both emotional and physical.

Think about these two books when you begin to formulate those New Year's Resolutions.