I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude lately for a few reasons.

The first reason is that my wife and I have been slowly making our way through the writing of our wedding thank you cards. It’s taken more time than either of us thought it would. Partially because you want to find the right words to say, and partially because we both want to be involved in writing them and expressing our appreciation for our guest’s attendance and/or gift. Finding the time where both of us can sit down to focus on them is still a work in progress.

The second reason gratitude has been on my mind lately is because I heard an excellent talk about gratitude at a holiday industry luncheon. These types of luncheons are generally pleasant with people you haven’t seen for a while but tangentially know through the industry along with a speaker discussing various industry trends. But this speaker was different. He spoke about gratitude and its power to connect and lift people up. No request to donate to the group during the holiday. No moralizing. Just an interesting and thought-provoking take on gratitude. While I had heard this type of advice around thank you cards and daily mantras, this particular talk was the kind that grabs you because it was different than what you expected.

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to write a whole list of people thank you notes for some time (not just wedding-related ones). I’m not sure I’ll be able to match the 365 thank-you notes in a year like this lawyer did, but once a month seems like a good place to start for New Year’s Resolution #1.