Assignment 11: Say Thank You - #love2011

We start a new week on The Love Project and this week the theme is Gratefulness.

Assignment 11: Be consciously aware of the people in your life each day who help you and thank them, either with a heart-felt 'thank you,' or by following up with an email, a card, or some other token of thanks. If you write a blog post or comment, let me know, and I'll feature you on Website Wednesday.

Background:

We hear often that gratefulness is a key to happiness. Many people keep "grateful journals," ending the day reminding themselves of things they are grateful for.

This week the Happiness Inside Book Club is talking about a book 365 Thank Yous. I don't have the book yet, but it's on my list of books to read. It's about a man who's life changed when he wrote a thank you card each day for a year to the people in his life.

Along those same lines, my friend Sonja Knaisch, just started Project Give Thanks. This is a project which will support breast cancer survivors with card art. Sonja, a breast cancer survivor herself, speaks of the gratefulness she felt from the support of so many people as she was going through her treatments.

Every day, we interact with people who are helping us... checking us out at the grocery store, (I'm referring to the people at the cash register... not the ones who are noticing how sexy we are.. but I'm grateful for those people, too.) Friends support us with a call or email... someone gives us a nice comment on a blog or Facebook. There are so many ways we help one another. Take the time to let people know you appreciate them. Thank them!

Give:Love - Valentine's Cards for a Special Cause

This week on The Love Project we are talking about Love Notes. Even though the weekly assignment was to send a card for no reason, I know many of us are preparing for Valentine's Day so I wanted to tell you about a very special Valentine's effort: Project Give:Love.

Brainchild of Megan from sortacrunchy.net, she had her readers create downloadable Valentine's designs that can be used as Valentine's cards in support of love146.org, an organization that helps children who are entrapped in trafficking and slavery. She asks that if you use the downloadable cards that you consider sending a donation to love146.org, maybe from the savings of not buying cards. There's also an option to buy some Valentine postcards with the money going towards love146.org.

I'd been looking for "adult" Valentines that would be appropriate for me to send to friends and family and these were perfect! I can send a Valentine and make a donation to a good cause at the same time!

For those of us who are single, Valentine's Day can often be a time when we feel a little sad that we don't have someone special in our lives. It's easy to think, "I don't have anyone to send a card to..." Those are the times we should stop and remember Valentine's cards are not only for romance. (In fact those who are in romantic relationships often have the pressure of having to live up to some kind of unrealistic expectations on Valentine's Day.)

So, I hope on top of the Week6 assignment to send a "love note" to someone for no reason, you also all are preparing for Valentine's Day with anticipation of lovely cards to give and that you will consider spreading that love to love146.org, too!

Spread the Love

I'll be adding sortacrunchy and love146 to the Love Link List.

Are you a blogger? Leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll add your blog to the Love Link List, too. Check it out to find not just blogs, but sites and other projects designed to spread love.

Help me spread the word by cutting and pasting the following into your status:
Join The Love Project: http://bit.ly/aJWbG0 #love2011