This is a special week for the Two For You Newsletter as we are celebrating the one year anniversary! That's right, you're reading the 52nd edition of this writing experiment turned full-time hobby (if you want to see how my writing has improved, you can find the first edition here).
Over the past year, we've experienced a lot to be proud of. Here are a few of the highlights from the community that you may have missed:
-We grew our readership by 2471%
-An entire class subscribed (shoutout to Mrs. Evans' class in Hansen, Idaho!)
-I've been reconnected with former teachers who I hadn't spoken to in decades
-We have subscribers from over 30 states and four countries
-We've all dedicated over 104 minutes to making ourselves better
I began this newsletter as a means to push myself to write. I can only be grateful that people actually enjoy reading it.
That said, the focus of today's article is on gratitude.
It was 2005 and I was in a meeting room in a Marriott hotel in Eugene, Oregon. I was attending my first ever leadership conference and listening to a very engaging speaker present her workshop on gratitude. She spoke for 60 minutes, but after nearly 17 years, only one thing she said has stuck with me.
She asked her audience, "What is the difference between saying 'thanks' and "thank you?" Just hearing the phrases next to each other made it obvious. Thank you felt more emotional, more sincere, more thankful. She challenged us to always say, "Thank you," instead of just "thanks." To those reading, providing me a reason to write, with all the gratitude I can muster, thank you.
Action
Find someone deserving and tell them "thank you."
Question
Is it more meaningful to give thanks or receive it?
Quote
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."
- William Arthur Ward.
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