rise by lifting others

i sat down today to write thank you notes for our son's baptism gifts from this last weekend. this is actually a fairly great accomplishment considering i've been horrible at sending thank you notes lately. incredibly rude - i know!!! my mother raised me so much better than that and always set an awesome example when it came to writing thank you notes...sorry momma!

as i was diligently writing my notes i heard the mailman outside. i quickly jumped up to check the mail {as i always do} only to find the usual "junk". i wasn't surprised, 99% of the time it's junk mail.

it got me thinking of how i miss getting {personal} mail. with email, texting, facebook, and so forth, people rarely send letters or cards anymore. even birthday cards are kind of a thing of the past. so it got me thinking...if i were to receive a short note from someone saying they appreciated me, or thank you for the great conversation, the coffee date, {or whatever!!!} it would brighten my day beyond belief. maybe someone else would be just as happy to receive the same type of note from me???

it just so happens that i just had dinner and reconnected {after 7 years} with a dear friend and former co-worker who i just adore. i felt the need to write her and thank her for reaching out to find me and to let her know how much i appreciate her. i grabbed my mess of a box of notecards, and this is what I found...on the top staring right at me...

a small card with a quote by Robert G. Ingersoll:
"We rise by lifting others."

i enjoy helping others and making others feel good. so i decided to make it a personal goal to at least once a month send someone a personal note to say "thank you" and to lift them up. in return, i shall expect nothing back except for personal growth {and maybe the warm fuzzies}.

in the end it's another thing added to "the list", but i'm excited to see how quick i can burn through these piles of note cards!