It’s the time of the year where I reflect on having to spend many post-Christmas afternoons and into the new year writing thank you notes. Yes, I said have to. You see my dad brought my brother and I up that you always thank people for their kindness and generosity over the holidays and throughout the year. He also taught me the importance of writing notes to people at other times. For example, when someone was going through their first year without a family member that they had lost, when they were sick in the hospital or when they had a major life event both good and bad.
I can remember thinking of it as a chore, but now I am so glad I learned that lesson.
It’s those fundamentals that I carry with me today. Whenever I travel it is not just my passport I carry with me, but also a handful of note cards. We all know that in the day and age of email and texting many have forgotten the art of letter writing. I recently heard a story of an intern that was working in a company helping with sending out employee recognition cards. The intern was asked to put stamps on the cards, but placed them on the upper left corner. When his supervisor saw this, she asked them if they had ever mailed a letter and discovered they had not. The intern tried searching on Google to find the answer, but as the letters were evidence the answer was not clear.
It’s those fundamentals that we learn as children that we carry with us and pass on.
My husband laughs because I love watching Hallmark movies. I know for some of you that might cause a chuckle. There was one movie this past Christmas that caught my eye, it was called Write Before Christmas. The movie was about a woman who sent out Christmas cards to people who had impacted her. So, I thought I would write this note just to remind all of us that there are people that we might have overlooked or forgotten about over the holidays. Maybe someone that lost a family member that might still be going through some rough times, someone that might be ill, someone that might have gotten some bad news over the holidays. Someone that you’ve been thinking about and you haven’t reached out to that you might want to just drop a note.
Just after the holiday, I was blessed to receive two notes from a couple of dear friends sharing with me something that I had either said or done that really made an impact on them. I don’t think that we always appreciate how much the little things that we do mean to others. I would hope that as a result of me sharing this with you, that you might think of a couple of people in your life you may reach out to and let them know how much of an impact they’ve had on your life. It might just make their day and yours. As the old saying goes, just do it!
Who needs to hear from you? Drop me a note in the comments below and let me know what happens.
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