Gratitude Hand-Me-Downs by Angie Ledbetter

Thinking about gratefulness for the better part of a year now, I wonder how I can best share the benefits I've received with others; pay it forward; instill it in my own children?


Reading an article called Thanksgiving All Year Long recently, there were a few tips for teaching gratitude by the author Jeff Smith. (Seek and ye shall find?) I'm paraphrasing and adding to his ideas here:

• At home and about, an attitude of gratitude can be infectious to others. Sometimes people just need to be introduced to a new way of thinking, so role modeling our happiness can help spread the joy.


• Thankfulness for things small and grand doesn't just have to exist around the Thanksgiving table. Simple things are available to us every day -- a beautiful sunset, rain to replenish the earth, people who go out of their way to be optimists and good servers rather than doom-spreaders. We should notice them and voice our thanks whenever possible.


• I'm always grateful when my teenagers do their chores or share a kindness with dear ol' Mom. But do I remember to thank them? Not always, but I will work on that. Who doesn't like to be shown gratitude for a job well done? If you've ever worked for a boss who doesn't care to encourage and appreciate his/her employees, you know what a bleak work existence that is; so let's be sure we don't undervalue our family members and close friends. Even if our words of gratitude seem to be falling on deaf ears, they are heard by hearts and minds on some level. Our efforts in that regard are never wasted.


• Remind people of the gifts and talents they have, especially when they share them with others, such as good humor, consideration, compassion, encouragement, unselfishness and generosity.


• Praying for others, helping where we can, volunteering in our communities for worthy causes and goals, and taking the time to care about how someone else is feeling or doing are ways to spread the love and power of gratitude.

When we fertilize the gratitude seed in any way we can think of, it's awesome to watch it bloom and flower. And for that, I am truly grateful.

One Good Deed by Barbara Quinn

I've renewed my efforts to do at least one good deed a day. It can be as simple as slowing down and letting in a car that is trying to enter the line of traffic, or letting someone go ahead of me on line when they have one or two items. I hold the door for people behind me, help out harried moms with strollers who are trying to prop doors open to enter, or hit the open button on the elevator when someone is approaching so they don’t miss the ride. There are so many opportunities. Usually I get a thankful wave or nod, which makes me smile, but even when I don’t get a reaction, I still feel good about the doing of a little kindness. I like to think that the person who has benefited from my small kindness will perhaps be kind to someone else in that “pay it forward” type of way.

But when I am pressed for time, or exhausted from all of life’s pressing engagements, I have to work hard to remember to take the time to be nice, not merely perfunctorily civil and acting out of habit. I have to take in my surroundings, have to come out of myself and my own little demanding and worrisome world. I force myself to notice things. This moment of staying in the present instead of worrying about what I need to do next is when I tell the clerk at the supermarket I like her earrings(they sparkle in the light), the librarian that the color sweater she is wearing looks good on her (the blue matches her eyes). It’s wonderful to see the broad smiles that are the result of these little interactions. And what did it take? A few words, a meeting of gazes, an acknowledgment of the connection between myself and a stranger. Ah, there is harmony in the world and in the midst of the chaos it's good to find it.

When I went to the theater the other night, we were rushing to get to our seats on time. A female usher greeted us and handed over our Playbills. I sat down, barely aware of the usher till she leaned in and said, “What scent are you wearing?” The rushing and hurrying were gone. I stopped and looked at her, suddenly caught up in a pair of smiling eyes. I answered, “It’s called Casual.” She nodded and I smiled. “It’s good I assume?” She laughed. “Really nice.” And then she was gone, back to ushering the next couple down the aisle. The few spritzes of my favorite perfume, Casual by Paul Sebastian, put on many hours earlier had caused this pleasant exchange. It’s a light scent I’ve worn for years, and I’ve had many similar comments when wearing it. I had no idea I still smelled of it since that always happens with perfume. How grateful I was that she took the time to tell me she liked the scent. The tables were turned and I was the beneficiary of a kindness. I vowed to double my efforts to say a kind word here, do a good deed there. And I also made a mental note to stock up on my dwindling supply of Casual perfume!