Tag: grateful

Staring Into The Eyes Of Impact

Staring Into The Eyes Of Impact

It was an unexpected opportunity to learn.

Earlier in the week I was asked to present some grant awards on behalf of a local educational foundation I do some work with. The foundation awards these grants to meet specific teacher requests which typically fall outside the funding parameters of limited school budgets.

My presentation was to a group of extremely important people. I found myself standing in front of the teachers of the school my daughters attended many years ago. Many of these teachers played such a vital role in the transformation of my young elementary school daughters into the strong, confident, and empowered young women they are today. And I know my daughters weren’t the only kiddos to be impacted so profoundly by those who were sitting in front of me.

It was an honor to stand before them.

As I scanned the room I remembered defining moments of impact many of these teachers had Continue reading “Staring Into The Eyes Of Impact” →

The Problem With Gratitude

The Problem With Gratitude

It’s a good question.

We know who we are grateful for in our lives, yet how often do we take the time to remind those who we appreciated that they are actually appreciated?

I was recently the recipient of a random act of gratitude. Unexpectedly, someone had gone out of their way to express how grateful they were for my contribution to a project we had both been working on. Honestly, I didn’t know how to respond, eventually finding the words “thank you” after instinctively attempting to minimize my contribution. The entire interaction, while appreciated, left me feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Why would something as powerful as gratitude ever feel uncomfortable to receive?

Perhaps it’s because we’re so used to not receiving it.

There is a degree of vulnerability associated with expressing gratitude. It’s often an interruption of the expected and usual conversations, and the recipient is left to wonder about the motivation behind why the gratitude was being expressed in the first place. The risk of being vulnerable is mitigated with our Continue reading “The Problem With Gratitude” →

The True Gift Of Gratitude

The True Gift Of Gratitude

As a kid, one of the best parts of my birthday was receiving birthday cards from my uncles and grandparents. Especially those cards designed specifically to hold cash. In all honesty, it was never about the card; I was really only excited about what was in the card.

It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was money. Just because I was born!

The rule back then was quite simple. You picked up the phone and called to thank the elders who sent the cash your way. Failure to acknowledge their generosity was a sure-fired way to get on the Ungrateful List. Kids on the Ungrateful List usually never saw those cards designed specifically to hold cash ever again.

I was happy to receive the cash, and always made the thank you calls. But my gratitude was laced with self-serving elements. I wanted to ensure Continue reading “The True Gift Of Gratitude” →