Thanking others as a practice

Today we had a leadership training all day on the principles of Studer which if implemented show increase in patient satisfaction.

In thinking about that I believe if implemented in our daily life would also improve our relationships with others and create a more peaceful caring world.

We talked about sending thank you notes to those who we see, experience doing good. In our ordinary day we have been taught to thank people for gifts. What would happen if we thanked our grocery store line person for helping us check out, or thank our mail delivery person for delivering our mail, or our family members for something they do? We can all find some little thing to say thank you in appreciation. What if they payed it forward!! Think of the impact it would be. What would happen if you thanked your children for doing their chores in stead of getting after them to do them.What if we thanked our employer for providing a job for me to use my skills and abilities.

We also talked about rounding which means asking those who were are responsible for what is going well, do they have the things they need to do their job, is there someone they would like to recognize and what would they suggest are some things that would make things better. What if we asked our family what do they need to be a better member of this family, relationship or something similar, do they have what they need in this relationship, who would they like to acknowledge in the family, and what could be done to make our family better? Our relationship better?

I was just thinking these tools can be used for personal situations as well as at our workplace.

Today in my reading about those "Blessed Among" it was a reminder to remember a great teacher and prophet, Rabbi Abraham Heschel. He died on Dec 23, 1972.

He felt his vocation(calling) was to connect the mystical world of Hasidic Judaism with the modern world of "man in search of meaning" He left Poland right before the Nazi invasion. He was expelled from teaching because he was Jewish.

Rabbi Abraham had a great deal to do with the renewal of Judaism and he also influenced the Christian world. He was a great lover of justice and a courageous champion of peace and civil rights.

I thought of him as I believe he also followed the principles we learned today at our sessions. That is to be present to the other, to search ways to help them to grow as persons and be willing to act responsibly in this world.

Is there someone you could write a thank you note to today? That might be the best Christmas present they received all year!!!