Thank You NOTS

Did your parents make you write thank you notes growing up?

Mine did.

I hated it.

I always procrastinated until the very last minute and then barely got them out within the 2 week “rule”.

For many years as an adult I mostly have written them when I “should” although I have gotten a little more lenient with myself over the past couple of years.

I still pretty much hate it. I never have the up to date addresses. I have like 7 stamps instead of the 8 I need. It literally takes me like 3 hours to do.

Ugh.I am like “who has time for this?”. I am all “why are we playing this game!” and “can you just not get me the gift in the first place!!!!”

So then I rebel. I am like “No more thank you notes!!!!”. I am like “isn’t a heartfelt text enough?” or “actual words coming out of my mouth”, isn’t that enough?

Then I don’t send the thank you notes.

Then I feel guilty. For like months and months and months.

I see the people I didn’t write thank you notes to. I think omigod do they think I am so ungrateful, and do they know I really am so thankful? Are they so mad.

So then I waste all that energy on that game.

So here I am in in thank you note purgatory.

I can write the thank you note and resent the whole process or I can skip it and feel guilty.  Not a real awesome choice.

So I thought about it. What do I really want if anything was possible around thank you notes?

Turns out I want to write the thank you notes. (I can literally hear a few a you cheering through the screen!!!) Turns out I can do this without ANY negative thoughts.

So this morning, I poured myself some reheated and then reheated again coffee, stuck a fancy cinnamon stick in it, lit a candle and scribbled away.

I had fun, I didn’t rush it, I let creativity flow and tried to be funny and I just enjoyed the ‘art’ of writing thank you notes. he. he.

(please don’t be disappointed when you get said TY note and it is really not funny at all)

Not because I should, not because I have been programmed to, not because if I don’t I might feel guilty but because I just genuinely want to.

So now I am an official thank you note while having fun and drinking luke warm coffee writer and it is the best.

Sometimes it is so freeing to decide on purpose what we will or won’t do.