Wednesday Wisdom - Giving Voice to Gratitue - Expressing Appreciation

GIVING VOICE TO GRATITUDE - EXPRESSING APPRECIATION

               

 

   

"Pro tanto quid retribuamus? For so much, what shall we give in return?"   

City motto of Belfast,
Ireland 

   

Being grateful for our blessings is an essential key to personal happiness. Of all the things to be grateful for, among the most important should be the people in our lives. Appreciation is the act of expressing gratitude to those we love. Through appreciation, we give voice to our gratitude. 

I'm grateful to my dear friend Nancy Kline, author of Time to Think and More Time to Think, for teaching me a simple and powerful formula for telling a friend, family member, or colleague what I admire or appreciate about them. She calls it "The Three S's."

Succinct: Don't go on and on, just say in a sentence or two a quality or character trait of theirs you like.

Sincere: Speak from the heart; be honest and real and don't try to overdo it.

Specific: Vague generalities ("you're such a nice person.") don't carry any weight-say precisely what you admire about them.

Giving gratitude by expressing appreciation is one of the sweetest ways I know to lift two lives with the same motion - mine and the person I appreciate. What an efficient way to make the world a better place!

In answer to the question, "for so much, what shall we give in return?" I say, start by giving appreciation; a succinct, sincere, and specific expression of gratitude to those you love.