What We Really Want – Part 3

There is a simple way that each of us can offer others something invaluable: we can describe for them how they were invaluable to us. In other words, we can write them a Thank You Story.

A Thank You Story is more than a thank you card, where we offer gratitude for something someone gave us, such as a wedding gift or a nice dinner.

It’s even more than a note of tribute, where we express appreciation for something someone modeled for us, such as sportsmanship or patience with our mistakes.

A Thank You Story honors someone for who they are, and for how they inspired us to become more than we could ever be without them. It provides someone with a token of proof that they are indeed invaluable to others.

Like a snowflake, every Thank You Story is one of a kind. Since every person is unique, every story about one person making a life-changing impact on another is also unique. A teacher may touch the lives of a thousand children in her career, but they are not simply an orchard of a thousand apple trees. Each child is different, each one is special, and so what she pours into each one, what she gives of herself to each one, is different. Likewise, each Thank You Story is unique, because only the student who lives it can write it. Years later, only that student can offer that teacher the priceless words, “This is how you were invaluable to me.”

This is the value of a Thank You Story. It shows someone indisputable, living evidence of their invaluableness. That makes it one of the greatest gifts we can give to someone else. And that means that each of us, by writing a simple letter, can be the bearer of such a gift. And that enables each of us to say of ourselves, I am indeed invaluable to others.

Thank you for reading!