No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude. ~Alfred North Whitehead
You are the result of a lot of people influencing your life for better or worse. We can all look back on our lives and remember the people who made a difference in our lives. Maybe it was a parent, an aunt or an uncle, a grandparent, a teacher, a coach, a friend, a pastor, or a business man or woman. Perhaps it was a book we read, a sermon we listened to, or a talk at a conference we went to.
My question to you is: Do the people who have made a difference in your life know that they made a difference in your life?
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There isn’t a person on the planet that doesn’t want to make a difference in the lives of others. There isn’t a person on the planet that doesn’t want to hear the words, “What you do matters and it made a difference in my life.”
Recently, I reached out to a professor I had in college in 2004 who made an incredible impact on my life. In one conversation we had together, he said something that changed my life forever. I e-mailed him and told him that he made a difference in my life and that I would love to connect sometime.
He called me last night. We talked on the phone for 15 minutes and it was one of the best conversations I’ve had in a long time! I was able to express my gratitude for the impact he had in my life. I was specific about what he did to make a difference in my life and I encouraged him. I said, “I just want you to know that what you do matters. I’m sure there are days where it feels like you’re making no difference at all, but you are. Thank you.” He was extremely grateful for the call and he said some things to me that encouraged me and fired me up for my future!
Gratitude matters. A lot.
One act of gratitude can encourage and motivate someone to keep going for years!
Make it a practice to continually show intentional gratitude to those who have made a difference in your life. Write them a letter, send them a message, call them, take them out to coffee, get them a gift, and anything else you can think of to show how grateful you are for what they do. Make sure they know that they matter.
Who are 3 people that have made an impact in your life that you could reach out to and thank this month?
What are you waiting for? Go!
Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone. ~G. B. Stern
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