Transformative Gratitude (01/07/2025)

Gratitude changes both giver and receiver. It is transformative for both. Years ago I was given the gift of transformative gratitude. I have cherished the memory and tried to bring the lesson learned forward with me.

I was cleaning my home in Tipton, Iowa. My children and their friends were darting in and out of the house, but I was trying to keep an eye on all of them. Just as I was about to start my vacuum cleaner, the doorbell rang. It was a gentleman I didn’t know. He was all smiles. I thought to myself, “He’s selling something.” But I was wrong. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a huge handful of coupons and handed them to me.

He must have guessed by my clueless look that I didn’t understand. And so, he explained. He told me that he walked daily, and my neighborhood was part of his route. He observed me with my children and the neighborhood children often. He’d seen me gather them for treats and activities. He shared what he’d seen with his wife. And that week, as they were going through their stack of coupons, he’d noticed the Kool-Aid coupons. He told his wife that I was a Kool-Aid mom if he’d ever seen one. So, they cut them all out, and he brought them to me.

I was speechless. I thanked him. I told him I would use them because our home did seem to be the gathering place for the neighborhood crew. I introduced myself and asked his name. And that began a friendship that changed me. It taught me another’s kindness and affirmation can enlarge one’s desire to be even better and do even more because of the knowledge that it did matter. And my friend shared with me later that it taught him how affirming it is to notice the good around us.

As I said, it taught me the importance of transformative gratitude. A couple of weeks ago, I was in the market and passed the flowers section and thought of a woman in our neighborhood who works so hard on her roses every year. I know that things aren’t easy for her as she struggles with MS. I picked up a bunch and dropped them off to her that day. I shared with her how much I appreciated her gift to the neighborhood. She seemed so surprised but also touched.

As we continue on our way, let us notice the good around us and seek ways of affirming the goodness we see in another. We will find that gratitude transforms both the giver and the receiver. Loving kindness is like that, don’t you know.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.