Getting a lot of emails made me chuckle how vain I am.
There is one magic word that makes me read with interest and an open heart.
If this little magic is missing I skip over the words and read mechanically.
Can you guess what that word is?
A thank you in the first line makes me perk up, I feel appreciated.
I automatically want to give this appreciation back.
Without a thank you I feel more like an email responding robot that is doing their job ;o)
What if this vanity is somehow baked into human nature?
What if everybody has it to some extent?
Our brain is wired for coming to the point, not wasting time.
And also to quickly finding what’s wrong, criticizing and controlling.
Especially in relationships we are quick to judge and correct others, our spouse, our siblings, our children, our parents, our neighbours, our co-workers – almost everybody.
When it comes to educating and teaching we find this interesting conundrum: it’s our duty to correct but people shut their ears when they feel criticized, no matter what age they are.
Even though we can not make anybody listen to what we have to say, we can start communicating with love and appreciation.
The good thing is, we don’t need the recipient of our words to do the same.
It all starts with us.
When I noticed how the magic word thank you changes my posture and attention, I immediately started putting a thank you at the beginning of every email I wrote. And I noticed how nice that feels just for me, the person talking.
I say thank you to my students and tell them that I like being their teacher. I just can be that because they come and want to learn, so thank you for that ;o)
There is so much we can appreciate, it’s unreal.
The moment we try to find something we love and that touches us our eyes and heart will actually see a whole new world.
The important point is to verbally express what we like and admire.
It’s easy to do and an investment in a better life. For other people, yes, but for ourselves in the first place.
And you will get so much nicer and less robotic emails if you start with a thank you, don’t be surprised ;o)
Thank you (it works at the end as well!!),
with so much love,
Anselma
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