Color Your Life Happy

Note from a Nordstrom sales associate.

In a recent post onthe blog Dumb Little Man , Ali Hale, a grad student in London, suggests that we make someone’s day for less than $1 by simply sending a handwritten letter.

In case you’ve forgotten how to accomplish this simple task, Ali gives tips to get you started. If letters sound too overwhelming, she suggests notecards or even postcards.

Isn’t it interesting that even people who don’t like to send letters, admit that they love receiving them? Handwritten personal letters build relationships in a way no other communication can.

When my children were young they grumbled as I insisted that they send handwritten thank you notes for every Christmas and birthday gift they received. From the way they moaned and whined, you’d think they’d grow up hating to send thank you notes. On the contrary, they even send thank you’s to each member of the interview committee following job interviews.

In addition to handwritten letters, I also like to send “real” greeting cards for holidays when people least expect them. Last year, one friend commented that she didn’t even know they made Happy Thanksgiving cards.

You can buy a set of 6 or 8 of these holiday cards for almost every holiday for less than $5. It only takes a few minutes to address them and most mailmen will pick up outgoing mail when they deliver your incoming mail.

Every Christmas I tell the highlights of our family’s year in poetic form, print it on holiday paper and include it along with a picture in my Christmas greetings. Not only does this delight my friends and family, but it has given me quite a collection of memory details over the years that I would have forgotten otherwise.

I also enjoy sending postcards when I travel. To make this task easy I print off address labels of friends and relatives before I leave town. On the first day of my trip I look for affordable sets of postcards. Then when I have a long ride or down time, I can jot a brief greeting on each card. If I don’t find a post office handy I ask the hotel guest services associate to get the stamps and mail them for me.

Showing gratitude is one of the habits happy people share. The great thing about sending personal handwritten letters is not only do you make someone’s day, but you also make your own.

When they were young I insisted that my children send thank you notes for birthday, Christmas and other gift-giving occasions. They grumbled and protested, but I held fast.

Now as adults they write thoughtful and caring thank you notes for not only gifts, but after job interviews to each person on the committee.

Although I always knew that sending thank you notes was an important gesture, I didn’t realize at the time that showing gratitude was also a way to increase your own happiness.

Today I discovered a fabulous article that discusses not only the importance of thank you notes, but gives great detail and examples of what to say. I urge you to read How to Write an Effective Thank You Note for Any Occasion.

For which occasions do you send thank you cards?