Gratitude, the gift that keeps on giving

Last night I was watching Boston Legal, and at the end of the show an announcer said "thanks for watching ABC" I was floored! Now maybe all television shows thank you for watching them, but I don't think so. But as I thought about it, they all should be thanking us. We are the reason they get to go to work everyday and we have a LOT of choices what to watch these days.

Last week an automotive sales consultant in my class said that he always thanks his customers for coming in. I didn't get the sense that this was a perfunctory "thanks", but rather a sincere expression of gratitude. And when you think about it we all should be grateful for our customers.

Gratitude is the gift that keeps on giving. Think about a time when you did something nice for someone and they didn't say "thanks!" You didn't need them to say thanks in order for you to feel like you did a good deed. You know that what you did was kind or thoughtful. You needed the thanks to know that they "got it." But the loser was really the person who didn't say thanks. It meant that for what ever reason they were not able to really get the fact that someone did something nice. Gratitude feeds us by allowing us to see the good around us. The more we can express gratitude, the more we are able to notice the good and then feed off it.

Your customer might liked to be thanked for coming in. In fact I am sure they would. But do you think that you also might treat a person differently if you felt grateful to them? I know I would.

And wouldn't your day feel better if you spent a few minutes in the morning thinking of ten things you are grateful for. Wouldn't that change your attitude?

I am grateful that you have taken time to read this blog. Let me know what you are grateful for!