If you woke up tomorrow with only that which you had expressed gratitude for, what would you be left with?

Getting to the end of a long term, completing a big project or finishing up and leaving a workplace can be a really bittersweet time for most people. The sense of excitement for the holidays, a change of career or passion for a new project is often muddled with a sense of sadness for losing friends, colleagues and familiarity. This can often be overwhelming and even more challenging if you do not have control of the situation, like for so many recently affected with redundancies, terminated contracts and exam cancellations. These uncontrollable events leave us with even more emotional turmoil than usual and it’s in times like these that gratitude can mean the world to us.

Positive elements can and do appear during these uncertain times. Sometimes, asking for a personal reference can be the first time you truly see your value within your organisation. Emails of gratitude received from colleagues who rarely spoke to you enable you to suddenly realise that you had such a positive impact on them. A thank you letter from the student you thought hated you stirs the emotions when you realise that although you ‘butted heads’, boundaries you put in place were appreciated.

These are all examples of genuine gratitude, however, they were all only presented when it was the end. Would life have been different at that workplace if these things were appreciated and celebrated earlier?

We are brought up to use ‘good manners’ and constantly say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, but I really feel the word thank you can sometimes present as underwhelming. It is said to be polite, and so it should, but it is so ingrained in us that we say it as a natural reaction without really thinking about what we are thanking the person for. Because of this, I fear we don’t express genuine gratitude often enough when thanking people. As a result, it isn’t until you get right to the end of something that people express genuine and heartfelt gratitude. 

Why do we wait until the end to express gratitude for what someone has done for us?

If we spent more time truly expressing gratitude for people on a daily basis, rather than an empty thank you, it would raise mental wellness in the people around us. Taking a few extra moments to convey our appreciation for what someone has done for us, no matter how big or small, may make their day. It will also train us to be more thankful for what we have. 

Mindfulness is becoming more and more popular, with people often journaling or writing lists of what they are grateful for before they go to bed or when starting a new day. However, when I have spoken to people who are new to this, they sometimes struggle to be able to list even three things to be grateful for each day. Simple things such as having a warm meal or a roof over our heads are often taken for granted. 

Put simply, we are just out of the practice of expressing our gratitude and like most things, the more we do it the better we will get at appreciating things and people. 

My challenge to you is simple. 

Don’t wait until it’s too late to express gratitude or to let someone know they have made a positive impact on you. Take just one extra minute to acknowledge someone’s hard work or helpfulness each day and it might make the world of difference to them. Try to thank people by expressing why and how they made you feel special. As a bonus, it might also feel pretty good for you too! 

The law of attraction suggests that the more we express genuine gratitude, the more we will receive it and the better we will all feel about it. 

It’s a win-win.

This information is based on my personal experience and conversations with professional colleagues, accumulated over nearly a decade working in education. I am not a doctor and this is not based on any formal research. These are my own thoughts and tips which I share to promote self-care and gratitude.