Thank You

A little while ago I was having some personal struggles.  I was filled with disappointment, regret, and sorrow and felt I had no way to climb out of the whole I had dug myself into.  My Mom stepped in and sent a ticket for my daughter and I to fly out to California to visit, hopefully get me out of this funk.  While I was able to be distracted from my issues while I was there, as soon as I stepped off the plane home, everything came flooding back.  I was, once again, depressed with my situation.

After being back home for about a week, I suddenly had inspiration.  I needed to write a thank you note.  And that is exactly what I did.  Except I didn't write just one, I wrote six.  Every thank you note had a little pick-me-up inside of them.  Sorry friends, I did not send cash or check, simply because I didn't have the money.  But what I wrote was what they meant to me, how they were an example to me, a thank you for taking care of me and my daughter, I told them how amazing they were and what their strengths were.  I tried to lift them up and by doing so, I lifted myself.

In the past, I have only written thank you notes because my Mom made me.  Unfortunately, the habit didn't stick and I didn't even send thank you notes out for my wedding.  While I do regret that, I have started writing them again.  I sent thank you notes for my baby shower and some that received one told me how thankful they were that they got mail that wasn't a bill.  But these thank you notes were different.  Of course I needed to thank my parents for the plane ticket and the food and diapers.  And my grandparents needed a thank you because I stayed with them for a little as well.  My siblings babysat my daughter almost the whole time I was there.  But these were still different.  Telling them how amazing they were felt really good to me.  I wrote them a thank you, not just to thank them but to lift them up.  To give them a boost of confidence that they might need.  I wrote to them to let them know that I love and care about them and that they mean the world to me.  And in doing this, I felt better.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "By serving others, you are serving yourself?"  Of course you have, it's a fairly common one.  While I couldn't go do their dishes or take out their garbage because I was 500 miles away, I was able to serve them by telling them how much I love them.  And I may be selfish for being grateful that I felt better afterwards, but I filled a void that was inside of me.  The light started to shine through to me and I felt that everything was going to be okay.  And that is what service can do.

Take a little time today serve someone else.  Write a thank you note or just stop by someone's house.  If you need a postage stamp, I'll give you one but do something for someone else today.  You'll feel better, even if you're already happy.

Love Always,

Ashlynn