30 Days of Yes - Day 2 (Gratitude)

Today, I sent the snail mail letter of gratitude.

On Friday, I had the privilege of conducting media training sessions for soldiers based at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. Living in Hawaii and being a news person most of my professional career and being the son of a Korean War Vet I had sort of an understanding of military sacrifices - but not really since I was too young for Vietnam and too old for both Iraqi and Afghanistan Wars. Most of the soldiers I had trained on Friday had been deployed at least once to either the Iraqi or Afghanistan theater if not both. The men and women were great and positive despite what they have witnessed and risked. I am truly grateful for those who defend the way we get to live on a daily basis. Whether politically we agree or not about war in general or specific operations, these young people are still out there unselfishly protecting the way are accustomed to living and the way we want to live. I am also grateful for being hired to do this job and have this experience.

On Mother's Day, my 8th/9th grade girls basketball club team had a game scheduled right smack in the middle of the day. At first I wasn't grateful for that for two reason, 1. I would not have enough players because they would be with mom as they should be. 2. I kind of wanted to have a mother's day brunch too. But it turned out to be an experience to be extremely grateful for. We only had three players so I asked the league director if we could borrow players from another team. He talked with the coach of probably the best team in the league who had two games that day and she agreed to give us five players. That means her girls were going to play 3 games in one day. These girls were great and we actually won our first game. It wasn't the win that was so rewarding it was the meshing of two different teams expressing two different sides of gratitude. The girls on my team were so grateful to play with and learn from such sweet and talented girls. The girls we borrowed from the best team in the league were so grateful to see the joy in my girls and to be able to help and play without the pressure of winning (since this game didn't count for them). Yes, winning can make one feel better but the joy began from the opening tipoff, when we weren't winning. That was for at least the first 8 minutes. It was the joy and gratitude that got them the victory. The joy and gratitude lead them to playing hard, playing smart and overall just having a fun time.

My weekend also included seeing the St. Louis Symphony do the greatest hits of Led Zeppelin (It was awesome!), a walk through Laumeier Sculpture Park for an incredible art fair (Yes, I went to an art fair and really enjoyed the talent of these artists) and making a Mother's Day spaghetti dinner for my girlfriend and her son (I don't think my spaghetti was as good as the artwork and Led Zeppelin music).

There is so much to be grateful for in my life. I didn't need Mother's Day to remind me how great my mother raised me and how loving she is. I have experienced so many neat things in my life from family, children and friends, to travel, food and entertainment, to safe homes and beautiful communities I have lived in, to some of the most rewarding and creative jobs anyone can have.  Television, marketing, and NCAA basketball coaching? Now that's fun.



Back to the snail mail gratitude letter I sent as my activity on Day 2 of 30 Days of Yes. http://www.yes30.com/

It will be interesting to see the response and I hope to report on that in a couple of days - depending how quickly the snail moves from the post office to the mail box. Btw, I'm grateful for the U.S. Postal Service too. I'm always amazed how you just pay 40 cents or so, drop it off in a big pile of other mail and then it gets to the exact place (most of the time) in just a couple of days (most of the time). If someone gave you 40 cents to deliver a letter I bet you wouldn't do it. I do have a confession to make about dropping off something in a US Mail Box. When I was a kid I once put a half finished milkshake in one. What was I thinking? One, I probably ruined all of the mail and two, I love milkshakes. What a waste. If you ever got a milkshake-stained letter from Belvedere, CA back in the 70's that was from me and hopefully you will forgive me because tomorrow's activity in 30 Days of Yes is about forgiveness.

The letter I sent today, is going to someone who I probably said "thank you" to many times and hopefully I have demonstrated my gratitude many times but this person deserves a handwritten surprise.  What I learned about today's activity is not to take any relationship for granted, whether it be someone at work, a family member, your best friend or your significant other. I also determined that I spend wasted time dwelling on what I think I do for others and disappointment if I don't get the same gratitude, acknowledgement and respect in return. It's a response/feeling I need to change. It's not that I give specifically to get something in return, because I get a lot of joy out of giving, but I will get discouraged if my generosity goes unnoticed. If we all expressed genuine gratitude on a regular basis toward each other I believe there would be much less conflict in relationships. I guess there are two positive ways you can approach this. 1. give unconditionally and continue to express gratitude without expectations. 2. If you feel like your generosity is being taken advantage of and not appreciated then spend that generosity somewhere else. At least that way you are still giving with joy.

In addition to my 30 Days of Yes activity, because that's only 15-30 minutes, I did workout this morning, applied for a job at Boeing and worked on a story I am putting together for HEC TV. I need to give more time and attention though to praying or meditating - that's all part of getting the answers and inspiration to pursue your passion and determine your purpose. The struggle I have, which I have mentioned, and I'm hoping I will conquer in the next 30 days, is feeling like I don't have time to pray or think because I have too much to do. Besides, I really feel guilty when prayer time turns into nap time.

See you all tomorrow when I talk about forgiving. I've got a good one and it's about forgiving someone for a recent action and I know I'm still caught up in what happened. Tomorrow could be another attitude changer for me.

Okay off to nap now, I mean pray. Seriously, I'm not tired. I'm motivated.