Five Tips for Using E-mail in a Gratitude Practice

JourneywithSpirit.com, a do-it-yourself spirituality Web site, offers tips for using e-mail to practice an attitude of gratitude. Youve got mail is a code word for you are important.

Portland, OR (PRWEB) February 25, 2004 -—E-mail has become the easiest way to practice an attitude of gratitude. With everyone celebrating National Write a Letter of Appreciation Month in March, nows the time to send a heartfelt e-mail to people who have touched your life.

Appreciation is a form of gratitude, a key ingredient in a simple practice of acknowledging the kindness of others, according to JourneywithSpirit.com, a do-it-yourself spirituality Web site.

Gratitude makes you aware of everyday abundances—friends, family and the gift of their time," says spiritual author Vicky Thompson, creator of JourneywithSpirit.com. Technology simplifies the process of recognizing others who have made a difference in your life. Youve got mail is a code word for you are important."

Following the lead of famous letter writers, Thompson offers five tips for crafting inspiring e-mails:

•Be specific. Express gratitude for each act of kindness. In a 1913 letter from playwright George Bernard Shaw to actress Beatrice Campbell, he acknowledges her graces, telling her that he wants her in his life: I want the lighter of my seven lamps of beauty, honor, laughter, music, love, life and immortality.

•Be sincere. Write from the heart, sharing how the person has changed your life. Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning bared her soul in a letter to her husband, poet Robert Browning, in the mid-1800s: You have touched me more profoundly than I thought even you could have touched me—my heart was full when you came here today. Henceforward I am yours for everything.

•Use humor. Let others know that you care by making them laugh, like Jane Austen did in a 1798 letter to her sister Cassandra: You deserve a longer letter than this; but it is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve.

•Use motivation. Show appreciation for the good works of others by inspiring them with supportive words. In a 1990 letter, Mother Teresa encouraged her followers to continue their humanitarian efforts: This brings you my prayer and blessing for each one of you—my love and gratitude to each one of you for all you have been and have done all these 40 years to share the joy of loving each other and the poorest of the poor.

•Take their breath away. You know that your words have pierced like Cupids arrow when you leave the recipient speechless. In her reply to her husband, poet William Wordsworth, Mary Wordsworth wrote in 1810: It is not in my power to tell thee how I have been affected by this dearest of all letters—it was so unexpected—so new a thing to see the breathing of thy inmost heart upon paper that I was quite overpowered.

JourneywithSpirit.com offers tools for creating simple spiritual practices, including affirmations, meditations and inspirational web movies.

Contact: Vicky Thompson
JourneywithSpirit.com
503-697-8916
http://www.journeywithspirit.com
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