As the year 2024 is coming to a close, I am excited to be working on my 100th blog post since establishing my website and blog in 2017. I have chosen a fitting topic for my 100th post: Gratitude.
I am dedicated to adopting an attitude of gratitude and expressing appreciation for the good in my life. At this stage of my life (66 years old), I often reflect on and savor the life I have been blessed with. While persistent dedication, continual learning, hard work, a mindset of abundance and possibility, and luck are all imperative components of any success, the overall theme that stands out is the importance of quality, caring people in our lives.
If we pause and reflect, everything that happens to us is the result of someone:
- Teaching and mentoring.
- Giving an opportunity.
- Supporting and caring for your well-being.
- Being kind and generous.
When our (Terri Tomoff and me) daughter, Olivia, graduated from James Madison University, she prioritized time in the final months of her senior year to handwrite notes to people who had a memorable role in her growth and development from early childhood through college. On graduation day in May 2015, she mailed 50+ thank-you notes that included family, teachers, soccer coaches, and community support that touched her over many years. Her effort inspired me, and she taught me and her a lesson about expressing sincere appreciation for others who help us in our path of life.
Through our family’s challenges with our son, Ryan, cancer battles since 1996, we learned acutely the fact that people need people. The people who came into our lives and have selflessly supported us in countless ways resonated, over the years, with us to the core. We have been profoundly changed and now experience ever-present gratitude for the people in our lives.
In October 2024, I completed a book by A.J. Jacobs, Thanks A Thousand: A Journey of Gratitude, about his efforts to thank everyone involved in making his morning cup of coffee a reality. As explained on the book back cover:
“In hopes of restoring my sanity in these troubling times, I recently undertook a quest:
I pledged to thank every single person who had a role (however small) in making my morning cup of coffee possible.
I wanted to show how life-changing gratitude can be. So I thanked the barista, the lid designer, the South American farmer, the trucker who hauled the coffee, the folks who paved the road for the trucker, the people who painted the stripes on the highways so the truck didn’t veer into traffic. It turned out to be a surprisingly huge number of people. My gratitude quest has taken me across time zones and up and down the social ladder. It made me feel delight, wonder, guilt, and a whole bunch of caffeine jitters. It taught me the secrets to practicing gratitude, and how it can transform anyone’s perspective.”
I highly recommend this book and hope you find it as inspiring as I do!
Bill Tomoff | Thanks A Thousand: Who Can You Thank?
As we turn the page on another year and head into 2025, I am taking inspiration from Olivia and A.J. Jacobs. I will be undertaking a more intentional lifelong effort to thank the countless people who have helped shape me and my life’s journey. I am going beyond coffee and asking myself, “Who has played a role in the many aspects of my life span from childhood through school, personal and professional years?” Then, who can I thank in person and/or via a handwritten note? This project is undoubtedly an audacious goal, yet I will chip away one person at a time.
A.J. Jacobs | My journey to thank all the people responsible for my morning coffee
I am energized to begin this gratitude journey. My mission to thank those who’ve shaped my life feels daunting yet deeply meaningful. I cannot predict how long this endeavor will take, but each thank you will strengthen the connections that make life rich, and the journey will enhance my life fulfillment. Who can you thank today? The ripple effect of expressed gratitude might change someone’s life—including yours.
