Thanks Thursday

A friend at work suggested I share a practice they’ve adopted on their team.  It’s “Thanks Thursday.”

They’ve made it a habit to thank each other, and show a little more appreciation, at least one day of the week.  It’s all too easy for time to slip by, and to either take each other for granted, or to think the words of appreciation, but not voice them.

What I like about this idea is that it’s anchored to a day of the week.  I think anchoring things to the day of a week, make it a lot easier to remember.  If you wake up on a Thursday, it’s easy to remember, that it’s “Thanks Thursday.”  Oh yeah, and I like that the name has alliteration.

Cicero taught us that gratitude is the parent of all other virtues.  I can see why.  One of people’s deepest needs is appreciation and acknowledgment.  It’s no wonder that empathic listening (listening until the other person “feels* heard), is the most important communication skill.    An attitude of gratitude also helps us appreciate what we’ve got, while we’ve got it.   There’s a lot of truth in the song, Big Yellow Taxi, that says, “you don’t know what you got till it’s gone.”

With that in mind, I’ve reached out to various folks today to thank them.  I also want to thank the readers of Sources of Insight.  So many of you have spread the word.

Photo by eflon.