The Kindness of Expressing Appreciation

"Make it a habit to tell people thank you.  To express your appreciation, sincerely and without expectation of anything in return.  Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you.  Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it."
― Ralph Marston

Yesterday my children and I were going to be out in the sun for a while.  Each of them filled a plastic tumbler with water and ice for themselves, and one of my daughters filled one for me.  I usually don't carry one of these -- not because I don't get thirsty, but because I don't want to carry something else.  In this case, I already had my hands full, but as one of the children had been kind enough to pack the water cup for me, I decided to take it.

About a half hour into our time in the sun, I grabbed for the water cup and thought how grateful I was that one of my daughters had packed it for me.  She saw me drinking from it and said, "Are you glad I got you the water?"  Yes, I answered.  "But you didn't say anything," she said.

Oops ... out of the mouth of babes!

There is a 2008 TED Talk on the importance of saying thank you by Dr. Laura Trice, which I highly recommend (it's only about three and a half minutes long).  She says that people need to hear appreciation and praise.  And in an April 2013 Harvard Business Review article, the former president of Mattel (the toy company) asks:  "Why not say thank you more often -- and mean it?"  He goes on to detail his tips for showing thanks in the workplace.

Most of the time, we recognize that we are grateful for what someone has done for us.  As my daughter expressed, taking the additional step of communicating that appreciation is important.  It matters more than we think.