Thank-You Power

Upon learning about the Veteran’s History Project, I was reminded that our servicemen and -

women are doing just that: service. And they should be thanked for it. Many of these noble souls

are very far away on active duty and receive little mail to their camp or barrack. Take a few

moments to acknowledge their contribution and offer a friendly hello back home in the USA. You

can learn all about Operation Write Home at operationwritehome.gov. I have heard of great pen

pal relationships that result from this gesture of gratitude.

Muchas Gracias

I learned from my globetrotting friend Santosh that one of the nicest things a traveler can do is to learn how to say the basics in the language of the locals. He stressed that saying “thank you” is the most important phrase of all. His guide to global gratitude is below:

Arabic: Shukran

Czech: Dekuji

Danish: Tak

Dutch: Dank u

Estonian:Tanan teid

Filipino: Salamat

Finnish: Kiitos

French: Merci

German: Danke

Hungarian: Koszonom

Indonesian: Terima kasih

Irish: Go raibh maith agat

Italian: Grazie

Japanese: Arigato

Latvian: Paldies

Norwegian: Takk

Polish: Dziekuje

Portuguese: Obrigado

Romanian: Multumesc

Spanish: Gracias

Swahili: Asante

Swedish: Tack

Vietnamese: Cam o’n ban

Welsh: Diolch yn fawr

Thank-You Power

Upon learning about the Veteran’s History Project, I was reminded that our servicemen and women are doing just that: service. And they should be thanked for it. Many of these noble souls are very far away on active duty and receive little mail to their camp or barrack. Take a few moments to acknowledge their contribution and offer a friendly hello back home in the USA. You can learn all about Operation Write Home at operationwritehome.gov. I have heard of great pen pal relationships that result from this gesture of gratitude.

Muchas Gracias

I learned from my globetrotting friend Santosh that one of the nicest things a traveler can do is to learn how to say the basics in the language of the locals. He stressed that saying “thank you” is the most important phrase of all. His guide to global gratitude is below:

Arabic: Shukran

Czech: Dekuji

Danish: Tak

Dutch: Dank u

Estonian:Tanan teid

Filipino: Salamat

Finnish: Kiitos

French: Merci

German: Danke

Hungarian: Koszonom

Indonesian: Terima kasih

Irish: Go raibh maith agat

Italian: Grazie

Japanese: Arigato

Latvian: Paldies

Norwegian: Takk

Polish: Dziekuje

Portuguese: Obrigado

Romanian: Multumesc

Spanish: Gracias

Swahili: Asante

Swedish: Tack

Vietnamese: Cam o’n ban

Welsh: Diolch yn fawr 

Acknowledge Excellence

    Did you have a helpful or enthusiastic waiter at the last restaurant you went to? Call and tell the manager about the great experience you had. Do you still think about a college professor that impacted you? Write them a letter to thank them. Many jobs are thankless jobs, so remember how good it feels to be thought of and appreciated, even years later. Also, telling your friends and family about your good experiences with these people can help their business flourish.

For Services Rendered

    Send a letter to someone in local law enforcement, the Coast Guard, or serving overseas that gives thanks for their hard work and dedication to our country. It’s simple and will be greatly appreciated. Go to LetsSayThanks.com for inspiration.

Thank-You Power

    Upon learning about the Veteran’s History Project, I was reminded that our servicemen and -women are doing just that: service. And they should be thanked for it. Many of these noble souls are very far away on active duty and receive little mail to their camp or barrack. Take a few moments to acknowledge their contribution and offer a friendly hello back home in the USA. You can learn all about Operation Write Home at operationwritehome.gov. I have heard of great pen pal relationships that result from this gesture of gratitude.

Love and Lattes

    Leave a tip and a little thank-you note in the tip jar at your favorite coffee or ice cream shop. Many of us remember the days when we had to work retail or hospitality while in high school or college. The staff is working hard, so show your appreciation for your latte and their positive attitude with a dollar or two. I have put in little “good job” notes in the tip jar at my local Peet’s Coffee & Tea. I think good work should be acknowledged and people should know they are appreciated (and so should their boss!). I have made lifelong friends at the two Peet’s I have frequented and it is nice to see them across the counter every morning. Those relationships all began with four little words: “How are you today?”

How to Have an Attitude of Gratitude

1. Be grateful and recognize the things others have done to help you.
2. When you say, “Thank you,” to someone, it signals what you appreciate and why you appreciate it.
3. Post a “Thank you to all” on your Facebook page on your blog, or send individual emails to friends, family, or colleagues.
4. Send a handwritten thank-you note. These are noteworthy because so few of us take time to write and mail them.
5. Think thoughts of gratitude-two or three good things that happened today-and notice calm settle through your head, at least for a moment. It activates a part of the brain that floods the body with endorphins, or feel-good hormones.
6. Remember the ways your life has been made easier or better because of others’ efforts. Be aware of and acknowledge the good things, large and small, going on around you.
7. Keep a gratitude journal to list the people or things you’re grateful for today. The list may start out short, but it will grow as you notice more of the good things around you.
8. Being grateful shakes you out of self-absorption and helps you recognize those who’ve done wonderful things for you. Expressing that gratitude continues to draw those people into your sphere.
9. Remember this thought from Maya Angelou: “When you learn, teach; when you get, give.”
10. Join forces to do good. If you have survived illness or loss, you may want to reach out to others to help as a way of showing gratitude for those who reached out to you.

Muchas Gracias

    I learned from my globetrotting friend Santosh that one of the nicest things a traveler can do is to learn how to say the basics in the language of the locals. He stressed that saying “thank you” is the most important phrase of all. His guide to global gratitude is below:

Arabic: Shukran

Czech: Dekuji

Danish: Tak

Dutch: Dank u

Estonian:Tanan teid

Filipino: Salamat

Finnish: Kiitos

French: Merci

German: Danke

Hungarian: Koszonom

Indonesian: Terima kasih

Irish: Go raibh maith agat

Italian: Grazie

Japanese: Arigato

Latvian: Paldies

Norwegian: Takk

Polish: Dziekuje

Portuguese: Obrigado

Romanian: Multumesc

Spanish: Gracias

Swahili: Asante

Swedish: Tack

Vietnamese: Cam o’n ban

Welsh: Diolch yn fawr

Thank You!

    I am absolutely over the moon that "Random Acts of Kindness" won the World Peace category for this year's Living Now Book Awards! Thank you to everyone who helped make Becca and I's dream come true. It has been an honor working and writing for you all! 🙏💖

Show a Little Tenderness

    Let public workers know that they are doing a good job. (See July 15, and try using a few minutes of your extra half hour to write thank-you notes to your local police station. I imagine it happens very rarely.) When you see a fire truck, ambulance, school bus, or police car, go ahead and thank the workers inside for their hard work. Whether internally thought or externally voiced, this appreciation goes a long way.

Acknowledge Excellence

    Did you have a helpful or enthusiastic waiter at the last restaurant you went to? Call and tell the manager about the great experience you had. Do you still think about a college professor that impacted you? Write them a letter to thank them. Many jobs are thankless jobs, so remember how good it feels to be thought of and appreciated, even years later. Also, telling your friends and family about your good experiences with these people can help their business flourish.

Mindful Memo

    Write a note of gratitude to the people in your everyday life who make a difference- the mailman, a grocery clerk, or the greeter at the mall. Tell your friends about their great service so their businesses can grow. Just by paying attention to those who can so easily go unnoticed (especially if your smartphone is glued to your hand), you can enrich each other's lives a little each day.

Birthday Girl

    Give your mom a present on your birthday. She gave you the gift of life, and this is a sweet acknowledgement of her labor.

Be of Good Cheer

    Open the doors for everyone- young, old, everyone in between- simply because it is a very, very, very nice thing to do.

Be Ripsniptious!

     Author Art Plotnik helped revive this world in his book Better than Great: A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives. Simply put, "ripsniptious" (rip-snip-shuss) can be used to express something or someone that is wonderful and highly spirited. Today, you will be ripsniptious and notice all of the other ripsniptious things around you. Let this be your word of the day and let it embody you- and introduce others to ripsniptious of the word ripsniptious! It's fun to say, isn't it? It's even better to be it. It is also a wonderful compliment and I think you are pretty darn rupsniptious for visiting The Lower Haight Holler!

Thank-You Power

     Upon learning about the Veteran's History Project, I was reminded that our servicemen and women are doing just that: service. And they should be thanked for it. Many of these noble souls are very far away on active duty and receive little mail to their camp or barrack. Take a few moments to acknowledge their contribution and offer a friendly hello back home in the USA. You can learn all about Operation Write Home at operationwritehome.gov. I have heard of great pen pal relationships that result from this gesture of gratitude.