Cheers to Marta!

I have an aunt Marta and when I was a kid she gave our family her dining room table and corresponding set when she moved to a new house. I have a family of 6 and this table was the perfect size to fit the whole crew and the often extra people who popped by the Duffies for dinner.  It was tradition at our house to have Sunday dinners at the big dinning room table. Along with that tradition, before every meal began, we would, as a group, cheers to Marta as a way to thank her for giving us the table. Marta knew of this tradition and I think we had her on the phone a couple of times when we performed the cheer. We are grateful for the table and we always remembered that Marta was the one who gave it to us. It did turn into a little bit of a running joke and we started to cheers Marta for a lot of other things because our family thinks we are funny like that.

However, this display of gratitude I have come to learn is a very magnetic trait. It is one of the best ways to connect with others and we often fall short in this category. I think we can all do a better job of noticing positive things, the times when someone went out of their way, or did something that was helpful for us. It is important to take a minute to express your gratitude and thank that person. If you have ever got a an email with the subject line "thank you", you know exactly what I'm talking about, because you know how that feels to get a thank you, and how that made you feel towards the person who expressed their gratitude. It is nice to know that your efforts were appreciated and did not go unnoticed.

I try and say thank you to one person each day, and it doesn't matter how, text, email, in person, whatever, because a simple thank you a long way in connecting with people.

Cheers to  Marta!