On Gratitude

One of my current personal goals is to express more gratitude and appreciation to those around me. I feel a great deal of gratitude for those who are in my life, but unfortunately, I'm often a bit stingier in my expression of it to others.

While learning to express more appreciation and be more positively reinforcing is a personal goal that's about making my life better and living closer to my values, its also about improving others' lives. I had a recent experience that brought this home to me. As an ACT trainer, I often feel unsure about whether my work makes a difference in the lives of those with whom I work. Totally out of the blue, one of my trainees sent me a me a Native American fetish, which was described on the materials as:

A fetish is an animal carving (usually from Zuni Pueblo and a tradition of all Pueblo People) that reminds us of specific qualities of a particular animal. By respecting that individual animal's "medicine" we may honor that quality in ourselves.

This little rabbit now sits on my desk in my home office and is a reminder that what I do makes a difference during those times that my mind says otherwise.

If you've been invited to come our dinners, its because either Jenna or I (or both) appreciate you and want to deepen our relationship. Are there people in your life you'd want to express appreciation to? What's stopping you from doing it today?

Peace,
Jason