Gratitude: Remembering to Be Thankful
A sunset over the plains of South Dakota
H Squared Communications Value #2 – Gratitude
Thankfulness is a great way to begin nearly any communication, and we will show appreciation to both the client and the listener throughout our engagement with you.
Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday. Not only is the food spectacular, but the day also includes parades, football games, and none of the commercialism that has overtaken so many other holidays.
I go a little overboard when it comes to rules to protect Thanksgiving. Shopping on Black Friday is not allowed, and shopping on Thanksgiving itself is a sin. (Why spend a day being thankful just to rush out to buy a bunch more stuff we don’t need?) I send Thanksgiving cards instead of Christmas cards. No Christmas decorations or music are allowed until at least December 1.
For the past 22 years, I also have written a “Thankful List.” Now, to confess what those close to me know all too well: Yes, I make a list for everything. Lists are sort of my addiction. But my Thankful List is something altogether special. The process is ongoing, as I keep track of items for the list throughout the year as I think of them. In November, I retrace my year by going through my planner to jog my memory of all the year’s events and activities and remind my heart to be thankful for them. It becomes a list I publish on Facebook.
Some of the things I am thankful for this year are substantial and weighty, like democracy and good health. Some are quite small and silly, like bug spray and declarative sentences. Regardless, they make my life better and more joyful, and I am grateful for both big and small things.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post on H Squared Communications’ first value of authenticity. As I began to organize my thoughts around what I wanted this new business to feel like, I decided I needed to be clear about my personal values, and how those would translate to this business I was starting. I greatly value gratitude in my personal life, and I needed to be able to incorporate gratitude into my work, too.
If authenticity is remembering where you are from, gratitude is remembering to be thankful. Yes, “remembering” again. All of us have so many things in our lives that deserve gratitude, but it’s not until we take the time to truly notice them and set them apart in our hearts that it becomes real gratitude. Gratitude is like a muscle that needs to be practiced, worked out, and stretched, because it certainly is easier to focus on the negative. Gratitude first takes recognition, then acknowledgement, then proving through our actions to others that gratitude makes a difference in our lives.
How does gratitude translate into action at H Squared Communications?
Gratitude as a Conversation Starter: Life is full of hard conversations, but they are easier when you begin those conversations with gratitude. It’s impossible and unhealthy to avoid having those tough talks, but I sure tried throughout my career. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized when I was true to myself and my value of gratitude and started beginning hard conversations with a word of thankfulness, they went so much more smoothly. Anything that’s hard to communicate is made easier by beginning the conversation with gratitude.
Gratitude for Clients: When you own your own consulting business, each and every client and potential client is a reason to be grateful. I will never take for granted your business or your faith in me.
Gratitude for Our Audience: I am grateful for each person who consumes the content on this blog, and for each person who is seeking information and truth in the world. As a professional communicator, I am daily thankful for people still reading and learning. When you approach your audience with gratitude that they are there and listening, your message likely will be better received, too.
Gratitude for This Opportunity: Starting my own business has been an adventure, and setting it up took so much longer than I envisioned at the onset. But I am so grateful for this risk, this opportunity I can take. This is important work, and I get to do it. I understand how rare this is, and it has the impact of gratitude on my heart.
Gratitude for Each Day: Each year, my Thankful List ends with the same item: each day. Since I am not a morning person, I will not claim to wake up day after day thankful. That would be a stretch. But I am grateful for each day, because it means one more opportunity to show love, one more opportunity to grow and learn, one more opportunity to serve, one more opportunity to make the world a better place. If you are reading this, you have at least one reason to be grateful, and that’s for life itself.
This has been a different year for my family and me. We have experienced quite a few changes that required major adjustments, some of them positive and some of them not. Writing my thankful list reminded me of the experiences and blessings from the past year. As the turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie are passed around the table on Thursday, I will be flooded with reasons to be grateful for more than just the good food. I will be grateful for a life well lived, and all the dirty dishes to prove it.
We’ll explore the other two values of H Squared Communications in future blog posts, but they are passion and honesty.