Kindness Challenge Day 3: Write 3 Thank-You Notes to 3 People

This is Day 3 of the 14-Day Kindness Challenge held in Nov 2012, where we do different acts of kindness for 14 days. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.

Hands holding red seeds

Good morning everyone!!!! :D Welcome to Day 3 of the 14-Day Kindness Challenge!!! :D

Over 740 Participants! Sign Ups Extended for Another 2 Days!!

We now have over 740 participants for the Kindness Challenge!!! :clap:

To accommodate for those of you who are late to the game, I’m extending sign ups for another 2 days!! 

For those of you who have not signed up yet, please sign up NOW to be part of this worldwide movement. Basically, if your name is not on the official participants list, you are NOT signed up yet. 

Here’s how to join NOW in just three seconds:

Upcoming Feature in Lianhe Zaobao!!

I received a call by another media correspondent for upcoming feature of the Kindness Challenge! This time, it’s a journalist from Lianhe Zaobao, a highly popular Chinese morning daily in Singapore, and the publication is interested to feature the challenge AFTER it ends, to assess the outcome and impact to the members!!

What does that mean?? That means, let’s give the Kindness Challenge our VERY BEST SHOT over the next 12 days as we prove to the media and the world out there that this kindness movement has a place in our society and it has the power to move and mobilize people!!! Let’s DO THE DAILY TASKS to our best ability, POST OUR RESULTS (via the comments section), INTERACT WITH THE OTHER PARTICIPANTS (again via the comments section and shoutbox), and RALLY OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY to join the challenge if they haven’t already! Once again, sign ups are open for another 48 hours! Let’s get moving people!!

Listen to My UFM 100.3 Radio Interview! (In Mandarin)

UFM 100.3

For those of you who didn’t manage to catch my UFM 100.3 interview live (some of you told me that the “listen live” widget on the UFM site didn’t work for you; sorry about that!), you can listen to it now! I got the recording from the station on Thursday, have done the editing yesterday, and uploaded the interview as a podcast earlier today. You can listen to it in my Media section.

The interview is partly about the 14-Day Kindness Challenge, and partly about my life, what I do at PE, and why I do what I do. It was a great interview and I really had a lot of fun with the deejays!! The UFM100.3 listeners were incredible and many of them have found their way over to PE, sharing very positive words of encouragement and support. Thank you SO MUCH for all your support guys!! ♥

Oh, haha, I don’t know why but lately the interviews would, in one way or another, bring up my relationship status and whether I’m seeing anyone at the moment. I thought it’s quite cute and funny! At the same time, I love that it’s (relationships) something that often resonates with the interviewers and audience!!

Day 2 Review: Give Up Your Seat To Someone

Day 2’s task was to give up your seat to someone (who needs it more than you do).

It proved to be really challenging for me as I was NOT able to give my seat up to someone despite overt attempts to make it happen. (!!)

The first challenge was that I was not able to get any seats when I got on the public transport, because it would be the peak hour and there would already be many people on the bus. The second challenge was that even AFTER I had painstakingly gotten a seat, there was no one (IMO) eligible for me to give up my seat to. The people around me were mainly young people and young adults; not really someone who would need the seat anymore than I would.

I then tried to innovate by thinking out of the box and thinking about the task in terms of giving up seats in general. However, because I’m a lady, people kept giving up seats to me at this social event I was at yesterday evening and no one was willing to take me up on my offer to give up my seat (which is understandable too; I think it would make the other party look bad if I were to insist him/her to seat down when he/she didn’t want to).

Regardless, I’m going to continue to work on this task for the next few days. I’ll update this space when I get to complete the task.

Update Nov 5 (Day 5): Yes, finally accomplished this task today! I got a seat on the train on my way to Kiss92 for my third episode on how to tackle procrastination, and was eyeing for someone whom I could give up a seat to throughout the 40-minute train ride.

Sitting down on MRT

Me preparing for my Kiss92 segment on tackling procrastination

First lady I offered to (looked like she was in her late 40s) refused—I actually think she was embarrassed that I thought she would need the seat, and she was pretty aloof in her rejection. I later offered it to another lady (looked like she was in her early 50s) who promptly thanked me and took it up, not before giving a pleasant look of surprise. :D

The first lady later turned around to look at me and smile at me, as if to indicate that she didn’t mean to be rude when she rejected my offer initially. When I left the train, I turned to say bye to her, upon which she responded in kindness too. What an awesome day! :D

Participants’ Responses for Day 2: Give Up Your Seat To Someone

…this morning, I was driving into work and I know one of my exit ramps will be crowded. So as I was getting into the exit lane, I saw the big semi truck trying to get in that lane as well. No one was letting him in as they don’t want to be stuck behind a slow moving truck on the exit ramp to another freeway.

So I decided to get into the lane behind him but then slowed down and made enough room to let him in. I’m sure the people behind me were mad, but I didn’t care. So I gave up my seat that way this morning. – Participant Ken. Awesome work, Ken!!!

This morning I needed to travelled from Clementi to Bras Basah, I observed some interesting things. While from Clementi to Raffles place interchange, it was very crowded but I could see people giving up the seats to the other needy people while I was standing inside the train. :angel: From Raffles Place to Dhobby Ghaut, there were so many empty seats that we could easily grab!

I offered a seat that I grabbed to someone who walked near to them. It turned out that the people smiled back at me and sat the other empty seat. I felt so great about it. – Participant Hendro

Usually I do not travel by public transport however today suddenly I felt like traveling with a friend of mine. I was super tired and luckily I got a place to seat. After some time i thought of the lady who was standing for the quite some time and i gave my seat to her.

Don;t know but i was suddenly feeling happy and not much tired. – Participant Hetal_S. Beautiful, simply beautiful guys!!

I am at home talking with my parents and don’t have any intention to go out today. I gave up my seat for my mum to use the computer instead.. ^_^ She was checking her email for a sec and it would be inconvenient for her to key in her user details while standing up. After that I resumed my computer use. – Participant wanxuan. What a beautiful interpetation of the task. Great work wanxuan!! :D

I was at home today but I was traveling recently to another city by train when I offered my lower-berth to a senior-citizen as in her ticket, she had an upper-berth marked to her. It was evident that it will be impossible for her to climb upto two-berths so I exchanged my berth with her!

…the sense of happiness and joy on the senior-citizen’s face was so great that I think it combated all the coldness that I generally feel on the upper-berth! – Participant Divya

Read more Day 2 comments: https://personalexcellence.co/blog/kindness-day-2-give-up-seat/#comments

Awesome work, guys!! :clap: Let’s continue to practice Day 2’s task in the following days ahead of the challenge!

Day 3: Thank-You Notes

Thank you note

Have you ever written thank you notes to others?

In every run of Be a Better Me in 30 Days, we would work on showing appreciation on Day 15, by way of writing thank you notes. It’s an incredible task every time the participants do it, for the thank you notes would elicit the most gentle and heartfelt of responses from others out of all the other tasks in the program.

Thank-you notes are a powerful way to express your love and gratitude for others. I think that there is no better thing than to openly express gratitude to someone whom you feel grateful for.

This is why I often express gratitude openly on PE. I would often thank all of you angels for being in my life; at the same time I receive daily messages of love, support, and encouragement from all of you. The pursuit of my work is independent of whether I receive these words of appreciation, yet they undoubtedly fuel me in my journey and growth, because it touches me to know that you guys care.

Today, your task is to express your appreciation to others.

Your Task: Write Thank-You Notes to People You Appreciate

  1.  Identify 3 people you appreciate. It could be for something that each of them have done for you or said to you at one point or another. It could be for something major or something small.
  2. Write thank-you notes to each of the 3 people. 
    • These thank-you notes can be written in any format—email, thank-you cards, handwritten letters, SMS, social media sites, and so on.
    • Try to go for the medium that can best convey your intent and sincerity with the message though; I tend to think a sudden SMS with a few words saying, “Hey, thank you for what you did for me yesterday” is a lot less sincere and impactful as a nice, long, handwritten letter on paper, put nicely in an envelope and passed in person.

Share Your Results!

Who did you pick for this task? How did you express your appreciation? What were their responses when they received the thank-you notes (where applicable)?

Check out the responses of other participants in the comments section!

After you are done with Day 3, proceed to Day 4: Sign Up For Volunteer Work (On Top of Whatever You Have Been Doing).

(Images: Hands holding red seeds, Thank you note)

53 comments
  1. Thank you notes is something we often neglect. I still find this is one of the best ways
    to express your thankfulness and gratitude.

    I wrote more than 10 thank you notes on Facebook, wrote 3 thank you emails to friends,
    and a few emails to my former clients. It’s a good feeling to be grateful of what we have
    and should be share with friends and our network. This is relationship building :)

    • Celes
      Celes 12 years ago

      That’s fantastic Ngee Key! You have really went above and beyond for today’s task. :D Let us know if you receive any feedback from your thank-you notes too. It’s always such a joy to hear about the positive (and many times surprised, in a good way) responses from the recipients. :D

    • Hi Ngeekee,

      I like your comment on this is “Relationship building”. I couldn’t agree more, simple and effective. A thank you is a good way to connect and genuinely recognise the qualities of the people you communicate with. Well done for writing 10 notes, you set a good standard for us all to follow!

      Thank you Ngeekee for your open participation in the PI challenge you helped me by giving
      examples of how you are working and planning your business. I think we all need more examples of positive leadership like Celes. Yesterday, I was thinking that there are examples of everything we need, it is just up to us to look in the right places (like here), especially as the media focuses on more negative aspects of life.

  2. Dear Celes, :heart:

    Just a little note to express how I admire how you express what you have in your heart and soul. :heart: Personal Excellence is a vision well-executed and a dream come true. SO many of us around the globe are benefiting from your inspired ideas, programs, and challenges, Tasks and writings that we do are visible, palpable evidence that uplift our spirits and encourage us to grow. Encouraging personal growth, reaching lives one at a time, is a most loving and expansive way to create more harmony and love and joy to the whole world! :D :heart:

    I know that those things are all true, because knowing you, interacting with others here on the PE site, and doing the work that allows me to grow, all contribute to improving my ongoing growth. I find your articles informative, thorough, and enlightening. I can feel your heart and soul shine through, and I know from reading others’ posts, we are all inspired by your first-class dedication and guidance. :heart:

    I appreciate so much all the time and focused thought you give so freely to all of us. And the love and warmth that permeates all you do. You exude kindness. :angel:

    With gratitude and much love,
    :heart:
    Bette

    • Celes
      Celes 12 years ago

      Aw thank you so much for your kind words Bette. As I’ve told you before, you have been an incredible energy to the PE community. I feel really blessed to have you here with us. Thank you so much for being such a positive light to all our lives. Your energy is amazing and incredible, and your kindness is honestly so beautiful. :hug:

  3. Dear Kindness Companions,

    I am very grateful to be here with such loving, soulful, kind human beings, and I just want to say how much I appreciate hearing about the random acts of kindness that everyone is setting into motion and pulsating out into the world. :heart:

    Every kind word, thought, and action that is created sets forth a ripple effect out into the world and yes, into the whole entire creation. :D It is such an awesome awareness that each little thing is so important….that it all matters…that it really IS the little things that count. When I hear the stories and comments from you all, I feel very connected and happy to be tuned in. :D We are often on the same page with our intentions when we are doing the same tasks, and that makes what we are doing even more effective and influential in the best possible ways. :D

    Thank you all for being here and sharing your stories and growing awareness with me…with all of us here. PE is a jewel, and Celes is on a very special mission conceiving and organizing this site, guiding and inspiring us along an important journey, and I am truly grateful. Joy lives here.

    Appreciating you, :heart:
    :hug:
    Bette

    • Dearest Kindness Companion and a crusader from a couple other challenges :)

      I’d like to use this forum to say thank you to you too :D…you’ve been an invaluable gem whose experience, words and outlook to life has been oh-so-encouraging……

      Thank you for being such an angel :angel:

      Loads of love :heart: :heart:

      • You and your words have always inspired me, Aslo, and I always look forward to what you have to say about the way you view your world as well as life in general. :D
        Thank you for your kind words and thoughts about me. :angel: I love and appreciate having your support and encouragement.
        :heart:

    • I really liked what you said Bette especially about little things mattering … and it reminded me of this story:
      http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/02/25/how-to-make-all-the-difference-in-the-world/

      Bette you always brighten PE’s community and you always stand out and shine :hug:

  4. I said thank you to a friend I have seldom contacted since past three years and managed to keep up with her friendship again :) She guessed something strange was going on (oops haha kindness exposed) so I told her about the Kindness Challenge. I also sent a thank you email to my partner. I too sent a gratitude email to Claire, also a PE reader. We went to Halloween @ Clarke Quay after the PE Meetup and I’m really grateful we finally “plodded” there. LOL. She wanted to go but I felt it was a bit late (event was at 9pm). But I’m glad we finally did go cuz Clarke Quay was really lively that night with lots of friendly zombies LOL ;) They were so willing to take pictures with us and make funny expressions. Also thank you so much Celes for arranging the PE meetup. :love: It’s so great to interact with a conscious loving fun “family”. :hug: I really feel very thankful today and even thanked my food before I started eating (which I seldom do).

    • To clarify, I said “thank you for being my friend” instead of just a random thank you. :p Or else, it really sounds strange!

  5. Hi everyone…. :D

    I wrote three thank you notes to the 3 most amazing gals in my life…..I now feel so much better and fluffier after doing so….. :dance:

    Here are excerpts….
    Above all the relationships you’ve graced my life with, the one I cherish most is the sentimental bond of friendship :heart: …..thank you for being my friend, for being that supportive guide through my falls, through my highs…thank you for being that oasis that I can always look up to for rekindling the drive for life…you’ve i been that wonderful angel in my life, what more could I ask for? :hug: …..

    I haven’t been the best at turning my sentiments into words, though I do hope this gesture is able to convey my gratitude for them…..

    Today’s challenge helps me acknowledge the need for reaching out to those who mean to me….after all the more you give, the more you’d receive….

    Have a thank you for :heart: Celes :heart: too….thank you for PE….words may not be enough to describe how strongly grateful I am having you touched the live’s of us PErs with the thought-provoking, life-changing articles, challenges, video blogs…..thank you for giving us in economics what they call comparative advantage in our ventures in life…..we are in the midst of watching a legacy being created, both on the personal front and with Celes (who am sure is to achieve all the blissful highs of life)….thank you Celes for this opportunity to excel…. :bow:

    A thank you to my fellow PErs too! :heart: ….Your experiences and words of motivation make life more meaningful….

    Funny how much I’ve use the word life and how in the past,I’ve never seemed to value the doing of anything to better my life….thank you Celes :angel: for reminding us how beautiful existence is, how pretty life is….

    • Ohhh this Kindness challenge is indeed showering kindness upon me….I got such touching responses from the 3 people……Life is Alive, I feel Awesome :dance: :dance:

  6. JadePenguin 12 years ago

    1) I’ve recently thanked my family for helping me out financially while I’m studying.

    2) Today I sent a thank-you mail to the Latin American Society, saying it’s really nice of them to do salsa classes for free (cause so many things cost money these days…)

    Finding a third is a bit hard cause I’ve already shown gratitude to my close friends lately. I thought of some other people but they might think I’m manipulating them.

    I’ll thank my Dutch friend when I talk to him later for having me over this Christmas and having to say no to all the other offers he got :P

  7. I wrote a thank you message to 2 close friends and my dad for cooking good lunch for me to bring to work every morning.

    One of my friend reply and thank me for the message as well as thanking me for being her friend too… it touch me with tears…

    It’s a big start for me to really thank my Dad personally, he hasn’t seen the note yet, no matter what reaction, at least I have move a big step.

    When I told my sis about this kindness challenge, she wrote 3 thank you note too, though she did not register, but glad that it inspire her too…

  8. Nov 3, Saturday

    I wrote 3 Thank you notes. One for my son, one for my ex-husband and one for my sister.
    I thank my ex-husband with a handwritten note for regularly buying bean curd and drinks, fruits and newspaper for me even though he does not read them. I asked him how does he feel after reading my thank you note, he said at least he knew that I appreciate it. I also told him about this ‘Kindness Challenge’.

    I thank my sister for regularly informing me of the letters I have and looking out for me
    the important ones and letting me know asap. I do really appreciate it and despite having little space in her house, she would sacrifice them so that I can put my things there temporary whilst I wait for my own flat.

    I am grateful for the compassion and love she showered me and often acknowledge me to boost my confidence especially before, during and after my divorce. Also for the gifts and special lunches and dinners she invited me, knowing the circumstances I am in now.

    I have not given the one to my son yet as I want to post this out asap. I sent an email to my sister so I shall await for her reply. I realised that I have so many thank you notes to write! I have so many angels :angel: in my life!

    Thank you Celes for this wonderful journey :clap:

  9. My boss and I exchanged thank you letters regarding a business trip we went on recently and how well it went :) and in regards to yesterday’s challenge i went to a movie and gave up my seat to a group who wanted to sit together because i was there by myself ^^

  10. I sent SMS to 5 good friends of mine who were there for me when life was not such a happy Song :cry:

    I Hugged and thank my Mom for being my support :hug:

    Regarding the responses I received, All of my friends were pretty shocked and replied back saying “Are you Okay ? Is everything fine ? ”

    I realized that I should appreciate their presence more often.

    Would try to make hand made “Thank you” cards for my best friend in coming days :)

    Last but not the least Thank you Celes :love:

    • Celes
      Celes 12 years ago

      Aw thank you Hetal! Thank you to YOU. :D That’s funny how your friends responded that way. As you said, that shows that it’s probably a sign to show appreciation more often. As I mentioned to participant Ray below, they are probably just surprised of the sudden display of appreciation, and it’s just something to get used to. The more you do it, the more they will warm up to the notion, and perhaps they will start to embrace that in their lives too. :D

  11. HI Celes,

    I wrote more than few thank you notes on Facebook, wrote thank you emails to the children I have meet today, all my partners and an email to yourself as how you guided me and the rest on personal excellence journey. All of them are chosen as their message creates the impact in my life and also without them, I will not become where I am today and will do more to serve the rest.

    I also share similar feelings with Ngee Key that it’s a good feeling to be grateful of what we have
    and should be share with friends and our network. This is relationship building :)

    • Celes
      Celes 12 years ago

      That’s really awesome Elton! Thanks so much for sharing with us. :D I definitely agree that it’s part of building great relationships. There’s no great friendship without appreciation and gratitude. :)

  12. I send a thank-you SMS to my friend: I thanked her for a conversation we had a few weeks ago, which meant a lot to me. Than she called me and she seemed happy cause of that :)
    Than I sent another SMS to a person who made my wish come true – a person who is responsible for me having a dog today :) My mum was not excited about the idea, but he convinced her. My doggy is a real sunshine and my life wouldnt be the same without her. When writing SMS, I was touched with tears… Dont know exactly why.
    In email I also thanked an author of articles about self-growth and spirituality. It was because of her that I stepped on a journey of knowing my self and the people around me and the world better. She kind of woke me up. I just thanked her for beeing, for who she is and what she gave through articles to me.

  13. It is only when you receive a note of appreciation from someone that you realise,how powerful a means it can be to boost up your spirit, and to strengthen your will power, in t he realisation of your goals.We do say thank you to people we come across for service rendered, or for just being nice and polite, as a formality, which is ok. But a written note, conveying a feeling of gratitude and wishing the recipient every success in his like leaves you with a more profound sense of satisfaction. It is a sharing of kindness that comes from the soul.
    I thanked my friend in the UK, for informing me about an important event that was to take place , and about whom I had lost contact for years now. I was so excited with this possibility of reunion that I immediately sent a thank you note with my familys greetings. Now he was so impressed by my note that he replied immediately after, stating how he was moved by my friendly words. A casual note can often create miracles, and enhance and cementexisting relation r esulting in more meaningful interaction.
    Poster a similar note to another friend. Same appreciation.
    Had no time for a third one. But decided writing thank you note will become part of a long lost practice.

  14. Hey Celestine,
    This is the first comment I post in the challenge. Will catch up with the first 2 days :)
    Today, I sent 4 fbk messages and 1 SMS. Bassically, I thank them for their constant presence on the fbk wall, sharing my updates with their friends.So far, 2 people replied, thanking me for the messages :) The SMS was sent to a college mate who gave me some great ideas recently.

    It feels great to do this…especially to stretch your mind to find creative ideas for expressing kindness towards others :)

    Look forward for the next day!
    All the best,
    Radu

  15. “Dear Celes I know there are more people who have thanked you today, besides me, but I still feel like I shall thank you. I feel really appreciated for all that you do for us and your passion and how Personal Excellence has had such a positive impact in my life. I must admit..at the start of January I had many problems and stopped coming to PE for some months but even when I left PE, every single day, I remembered the teachings and lessons I had here and now I’ve realized that one year ago I was really lost and sad wondering what to do with my life. Today I’m happier in many areas in my life, I’m calmer, nicer, feel more peaceful and even though there are the always daily struggles we have I have learned to deal with this problems in much healthier ways and now there are issues that used to bother me that now are nothing but dust and don’t affect me at all. I’m really happy to have found PE. I can’t wait to see PE grow and reach more people in the world. Thank you Celes”

    Fill everyone in on who you picked why?

    I picked my dad, my mom, my lil bro and Celes :)

    how you chose to express your appreciation,

    Dad- Sent him an email thanking him for sharing my hobbies, being who he is and for loving me. As an extra effort I watched some Youtube videos on a heavy metal band which he had been asking me some days to check out and then we talked about it.

    Mom- I sent her a text message thanking her for all she’s done for us over the years and that I love her but the text didn’t arrive!! :sweat: So I showed the text to her in person from my phone(We live in the same house). As an extra effort I asked her “In what can I help you today?” And she said fold the clothes in my room and I did that and cleaned my room though I think I could had done better :rolleyes:

    Celes- Well I wrote you a note on the comments section to let you know my appreciation towards the time you dedicate to PE and how PE has impacted my life and such. As an extra effort I want to share one of your articles to a friend of mine who needs it right now :)

    Lil bro – He’s young so I just whispered into his here “Thank you for being my little brother” and as an extra effort I gave him my chef hat and showed him how to cook a brownie in a microwave and he really loved the experience! :D

    And their responses when they received the thank-you notes (where applicable).

    Mom- She was touched and called me sweet. She’s the type of person who likes to be recognized for her efforts so she was pleased.

    Dad- He was really happy and he liked it. He doesn’t express much but I’m sure he’ll treasure that email.

    Celes-Got to wait for that one! :mrgreen:

    Lil bro-He was super happy and excited. He was having fun.

    • Celes
      Celes 12 years ago

      Hi fufu, aww, thank you *so* much for your thank-you note :hug: :hug: …It doesn’t matter that you stopped coming to PE for several months earlier this year. In fact, there’s no obligation for you to be at the site at all. What’s most important is that you are here because you want to, that you are able to get the things you are looking here (be it from the articles, the content, or from the community), and not because you feel like you need to (you shouldn’t).

      I’m really glad that you have been a part of PE and I feel that you are such a core bud of the site now. I do look forward to growing together in life through the PE platform and learning more about you and your life lessons through your various comments and sharing. Many hugs and love. :hug: :heart:

      • hehe thank you Celes :) I’m here because I want to and the reason why I mentioned not coming to PE is because I was referring in general to how in my personal life I relate PE and other self-development sites as communities which motivate me to do the things I actually want in life without being judged. :hug:

  16. Hello Celes and Everyone Who’s Reading this Comment

    I love this challenge so much!! The day before I gave 5 thank you letters to the people I came to know of from my short courses :D

    Due to the time constraint and long work outdoor activities, I sent three thank you short email for this challenge. :)

    Mission accomplished ;) :dance:

    Cheers

    Hendro

    • Celes
      Celes 12 years ago

      Great work Hendro on sending 5 thank-you letters before the day itself, and then writing ANOTHER 3 thank-you emails for Day 3’s task! You are truly living it up for the kindness challenge. :D

      • Thank you for your words of encouragement Celes. :D Hope everyone feels great (like me haha ) after doing the kindness movement challenge from you. :dance:

        Cheers

        Hendro

  17. I sent a thank you message to my close friend and he replied me saying “are you drunk ?” hahaa :)

    • Celes
      Celes 12 years ago

      Haha that’s funny! :D Just goes to show that some people are unused to the notion of receiving appreciation/gratitude and it’s a sign that we should do it more often and more openly to these people. :D Great job on sharing your thank you with that friend, Ray!

  18. Celes
    Celes 12 years ago

    Hi guys!! I know I’m seeing some thank-you notes in the comments section for me, and I’m planning to get to them in a couple of days’ time. I’ve been really SWAMPED the past week and I’ll continue to be insanely busy for the next 48 hours with other engagements. Please bear with me for now. I plan to read your notes in person and respond to as many as I can in the next few days. Thank you!!

  19. Well I sent four thank you notes to my mom dad brother and boyfriend. This past year has been really tough because my family was evicted and my brother and I became homeless. They all helped me get through the process ans I started crying as I wrote my notes. If it weren’t for them I probably xouldnt get through being homeless.

  20. Writing thank-you notes is something I like to do and do often, whether in the workplace or in my personal life. But I usually write thank-you notes in response to something happened, not usually write thank-you notes without a specific reason.

    Today I intentially wrote 5 thank-you notes to people without any specific reason, just to say thank you for being my friends, colleagues, and neighbors. Some people might be surprised when they receive the note. It’s like out of blue, unexpected. I think the more unexpected it is, the more meaningful it will be.

    I did all thank-you notes via email, that’s my primary communication tool now.

    I also posted a general thank-you note on my Facebook, thank-you to all friends for being my friends..

    In addition, I also wrote a thank-you note to my daughter by hand.

    I have a small notebook for my daughter. Whenever I want to communicate something special to her, I write it in the notebook at night and leave it in her bedroom for her to read the next morning. This notebook grew out of my daily writing to my daughter which I detailed in the post “You’ve got mail!”

    I thanked my daughter for her work during the past year to practice piano and prepare for the MMTA test. She passed the leve 8 test last week.

    Thanksgiving and Christmas are not too far away. I will write more thank-you notes during the holidays. Everyone needs some appreciation, recognition and encouragement that a simple thank-you can bring.

    And now, thank-you to Celes!

    • Celes
      Celes 12 years ago

      Aw, thank YOU Qin Tang! :D Thank you for blogging about the Kindness Challenge and following through every single day. You are doing such a fantastic job and being such a role model to others (including your own daughter)!

  21. I enjoyed this challenge. I really put my heart into writing thank you notes to three special people in my life. This challenge made me stop and think about how much I do appreciate the people that are in my life and the little things they do each day to make my day brighter.
    I wrote my first note to a close friend that goes out of her way to help me on a regular basis. This isn’t because I ask her to or because she feels an obligation. She really doesn’t do it because I want help. She does it without realizing what she is doing for me.
    My second note went to someone who has been an important part of my life for the past three years. She makes me laugh if I’m upset and she has been a huge moral support for me.
    My third note, I wrote it to my children. I suppose that is 4 notes all together because I have two beautiful daughters. My oldest is 10 and my youngest is 6. They make every day brighter and I tell them daily how much they mean to me. Telling someone and writing it down for them are different.
    Writing these made me feel good inside as well as making me realize how important it is to appreciate people in your life. I’m also glad I could make their day brighter. I hope I can remember to do this often without a challenge.
    A huge THANK YOU to Celes for putting these challenges together. You have made a huge impact in my life! :hug:

    • Celes
      Celes 12 years ago

      Aww Netta, thank YOU for being a part of the challenges! :D I’ve always appreciated your participation in all the past challenges, and it was definitely a big welcome for me when I saw that you had signed up for the kindness challenge. Your responses are always well-thought-out and you have never once NOT given your all to the challenge tasks. So kudos to you.

      (I guess you can consider this as a thank-you note to you; I’m grateful for your presence and being such a beautiful part of the PE community. :angel: )

  22. Catching up on my comments. It’s been a busy (but good) weekend. I wrote two short thank you messages to my two best friends for day 3. Today I sent an email to an old friend that seemed like they needed a pick me up last time I saw them.

  23. Good day Celes and everyone!

    About sending thank you notes challange, I sent a thank you e mail to one of my ex managers, who is more than a work friend/manager for me for a long time, a person who is a continuous support for me in all aspects. I really appreciate for her existence in my life and I expressed this in my mail thanking her for keeping me in her heart and mind even at times we do not communicate often. You hardly have this kind of people around you that you are sure you are in his/her mind, and she is one these rare people for me. I also have great respect for her, since she is always the best of whatever she does.

    I also sent a thank you note to a person whom I do not know personally but is a famous person, making a cooking program on TV. I quite respect her becouse she is going after her dreams and she is such a nice person, also helping other people to fullfill their dreams. I sent a mail to her expressing my appreciation for being only herself actually and being an inspiration for me. Guess what, she replied my e mail, a very nice and warm reply and I felt great!!!

    Will continue to send thank you notes to my friends, to make up both their day and mine!
    :dance:

    • Celes
      Celes 12 years ago

      ugi, aww you are doing such a marvelous job in Kindness Challenge so far! I’m very impressed with your progress reports for each day’s task and can’t wait to see your results for the tasks ahead. Keep up with your awesome work! :clap:

  24. I did try with my cards and pen next to my clipboard for my garage sale. But ended up talking and attending… But I did not give up. The two people who helped me with the sale( and many other things ) I made sure they both knew how I felt and was soooo happy for their help and company.
    The beauty of the notes- if you do send them, is in the thinking and expressing I am making a Thank you note for my students to do and before falling asleep I realized that I have been truly blessed so I added a lot of people and intentions to my prayers and I must say here-I must start baking cookies to give
    and in other small ways to show my love and appreciation.
    I now say” bless you” far more and without feeling shy about it. And I am reaching out more to say hi-by net, phone and in person . I will make time and send some short sweet notes.
    Bless you Celes, and all of us on this challenge :love:

  25. So for this day’s task, I sent thank you notes to 3 of my friends. The first one is my closest friend. The 2nd one is the friend who I look up to. And with the 3rd friend I share the longest friendship in my life.

    Only one of them was in the same country so I was fortunate enough to give her the handwritten letter personally. She’s not the kind of person who’s usually “touchy feely” and neither am I so all that was apparent was her surprise at first and then she read the letter, laughed at the *intentionally* silly bits & thanked me for it. But I could tell that she was moved by it because the very next day she got me a present that she knew I would like :)

    With my other two friends, I sent them before yesterday messages on-line, and the next day they replied with very heart warming messages and I teared up after reading the second one! One of the girls even told me how the message came to her at the right time and that she needed it and that she herself teared up too…

    All in all it was a rewarding experience and its outcomes shall be cherished in my heart :heart:

  26. Desiree Garcia 12 years ago

    1 – Is my boss. Who is the strongest woman i know and is all around amazing!
    I just wanted to send you a thank you note for all that you have done for me in this past year. Thank you for giving me a chance and believing in me enough to hire me. Thank you for being such a great supporter, boss and family. I love being part of such a great team and having you as our leader. Yep, that’s right – You the leader! 
    But just thank you for being you!

    2. Co-Worker
    Thank you for being such a delight to work with and never judging me on my soda drinking habit that I claim to quit every month. Thank you for being you and there when I need to vent. I appreciate you completely!

    3. Friend
    Thank you for helping out with our fundraiser. I don’t know how the night would have went without you.

  27. I wrote two thank you notes to my friends and the other to my sister. I thanked my friends for being kind friends to me, helping me when i need help, and teaching me things simply by being themselves. I thanked my sister for the good times we’ve had thanks to her wonderful personality.

  28. First of all, this is my belated thank-you note to Celes for setting up PE and making many more lives meaningful. I know I saw a lot of positive things to you, but I really mean them!

    Oh yes, and I also completed this challenge as well! I was at the Hong Kong Sustainability Jam this weekend and they have a face-board (pictures of participants with small envelopes for post-it hi/thanks notes). So I wrote my share of thanks to the people I got to know, and a note to the facilitator/organizers too. =)

  29. Really takes me some time to fulfill this challenge, but definitely my favorite challenge by far. This is one of the most wonderful things I have ever done and I wanted to thank you sincerely for giving me the incentives to do this.

    I wrote a thank you note for my parents, uncle, girlfriend, housemates, and my friends from university.

    I thanked my parents for sending me to Holland even though they were not in the best financial state.

    I thanked my uncle for being the most unselfish person i’ve ever known and being one of the best teachers with the great ability to inspire.

    I thanked my girlfriends for the empowering relationship we have and the encouragement in the times when I really need it.

    And I thanked my housemates and friends for being such a fun companion and a great source of inspiration through their own, unique way.

    The response was amazing. Most of them were happy, some very suprised, and some were deeply touched. Seriously I have made so many people around me happy just by saying thank you, a very simple act that has such an amazing power.

    Thank you Celes!

  30. Hey, I’m posting something I found interesting. A Japanese scientist, Dr Emoto did an experiment to observe the effects of saying positive words such as “thank you” and negative words such as “You make me sick” to the crystalline structure of water. He found that the water crystals turned into *beautiful* intricate structures when “thank you” was spoken to them :D You can view the crystals in the link here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_dmYT83ZKY Keep in mind that our body is made of 70% water. Remember, saying “thank you” is powerful!!

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