New Year's Resolution: Daily Thank You Cards

I've been thinking long and hard about my resolutions for 2014. I try to keep them simple, and I also try to not have a list of a hundred different resolutions. If there are too many, it's just too hard to focus on them all, and I end up not really working very hard on any of them. If I keep it to about five items, it is pretty do-able.

Now, I don't think I'll share all of my resolutions here. Not much reason for that. However, I will share one of them, because it's sort of an experiment that I'll report on once in a while. I love writing and receiving Thank You notes. Doesn't it seem like note writing is becoming a lost art in this age of technology? I must admit that many times I write emails or texts to express my gratitude to people. While this is far better than not doing it at all, I still love a hand-written card received in the mailbox. There is something so personal and meaningful about it. The fact that someone has taken a few minutes to jot a note is wonderful to me! Especially when it is for something that is out of the ordinary... a lesson at church, a visit, a meal, advice, or whatever. It's fun to realize that someone felt gratitude enough to write about it.

So, on to the resolution. I have resolved that I'm going to write a Thank You card every day this year. Does that sound crazy? Which is more crazy... that I plan to write 365 Thank You cards, or that I've actually voiced it aloud? When I was thinking about wanting to show more gratitude to others, I thought about a gratitude journal, which I've done before, but I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to let others know about my gratitude for them and what they have done. I don't think I'll have any problem coming up with someone to write to every day. I could make a list right now that would be as long as I am tall, that would include all the people I feel gratitude for, and that continues to grow daily. How great to think about this at the close of every day and write a note to someone I am feeling particularly grateful for that day. I'm sure that there will be some who will get more than one note from me throughout the year, which is the way it should be.

I have stacks of Thank You cards just waiting to be used, and I just bought another couple of packages from Target. They have such great stationary!

So, wish me luck on this little venture. I hope to report in every now and then to let you know how it's going and what I'm learning along the way. My real desire is that by thinking about and expressing gratitude to others, I will "live with gratitude ever in my heart", as President Thomas S. Monson has said: