18. 365 Days of Thank You’s
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Recommended by: N/A
Author: John Kralick
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Self-Improvement, Happiness
Info: 240 pages, published December 28, 2010
Format: Book
Summary
At the age of 53, John Kralik’s life was at a miserably low point. He was 40 pounds overweight, his girlfriend had just broken up with him, he was living in a tiny apartment with inadequate heating and cooling, his law firm was failing, he was going through a painful second divorce, he had become estranged from his two older children and was afraid he might lose contact with his young daughter and all of his dreams–including becoming a judge, seemed hopelessly out of reach.
Instead of lamenting his plight, John decided to find some way to be grateful for what he had rather than focus on what he didn’t. Inspired by a beautiful, simple note his ex-girlfriend had sent to thank him for his Christmas gift, John thought he might find a way to feel grateful by writing thank-you notes. He set a goal of writing 365 thank-you notes in the coming year. Every day, he began to hand write thank you notes, to his clients who paid their bills on time, to friends and relatives for gifts or kindnesses he’d received, to anyone else to whom he was appreciative. Soon after sending his first notes, John noticed that good things started happening, from financial gain to friendship, from weight loss to inner peace. Before long, his whole life turned around.
Quotes
“One of the most comforting aspects of writing a thank-you note was that it produced a tangible product. Although I was giving it away and not keeping a copy, I felt I had introduced something into the world that made a small positive difference. A piece of paper that would most certainly have been thrown out had been turned into a concrete expression of gratitude to someone else — and would have a positive effect by reminding a person that they had touched me in a positive way.”
“Scott, Thank you for taking the time each morning to greet me in a friendly way. It is also so wonderful to me that you took the time and trouble to remember my name. In this day and age, few people make this effort, and fewer still do it in a way that feels sincere. You do both. It really makes a difference to me every day.”
“Life is very short. You need to do what you think will make you happy.”
“Then I heard a voice: “Until you learn to be grateful for the things you have,” it said, “you will not receive the things you want.”
“If the voice I’d heard in the mountains had implied that I would get all that I wanted, it seemed, at least at this juncture, that it was a promise unfulfilled. Yet, by being thankful for what I had, I realized that I had everything I needed.”
My Take
365 Thank Yous is a wonderful memoir with a very practical message on the power of gratitude. I’ve always been a thank you note writer (it was how I was raised and how I am raising my own two children), but after reading this book, I was inspired to send a personal note of thank to my legal clients (something I had never done). I received uniformly positive responses and felt a more human connection with them that transcended the typical lawyer-client relationship. Reading this book, and being inspired by its message, will change your life in a very real way. I highly recommend it.
