8 Ways to Express Gratitude when Thank you is not Enough!
It happens with people many a time that to express gratitude and appreciation, they end up unsettled. You sincerely mean to appreciate someone, but you cannot because you run short of words. You are at the end of your wit to figure out how you can express gratitude and appreciation at the level you received the kindness. It has been a case with me so many times. Especially with people I didn't expect any help from or hesitated to approach for any support because of their tall personalities. Now I know that there are ways in which one can mean gratitude beyond a regular Thank You! Appreciation, my dear friends, is a magic wand. And sensitive people can read through.
A Special Note of Gratitude
You know that appreciation is a potent tool known for its reformative impact on the recipient. A person who appreciates also experiences a higher level of mental equanimity. For example, if a person helped you with money in a crisis, besides, of course, returning the money on time, you can create an opportunity for appreciation. It can be as simple as, "You know, the last time I had chocolate was a gift from you. I can get many chocolates now, but that one represented the kind person you are. Thank you!"
Expressing Gratitude in a Public Disclosure
If someone has a profound impact on you by way of giving you the support you desperately needed one time, making a public disclosure about their act of kindness will be a bonfire to warm up so many souls. I do this to encourage more positivity while impressing on people that appreciating a person out of a closed interaction, helps both in so many ways. It reflects the grit of the person you praise and that you are capable of appreciation without any vested interest.
Make Gratitude a Workplace Celebration
There are plenty of food aggregator companies nowadays. Use one such facility to order a muffin (or something you know the person loves) and have it delivered to their office. Keep it inexpensive and have it delivered to their office work station. Inexpensive would suggest a certain immediacy which isn't pre-meditated as a flow chart to a past condition. Immediacy would indicate that you are always grateful to the person, and this act should be forgiven if the person is an introvert nonetheless celebrating positivity.
Express Gratitude through LinkedIn Recommendation
There are scores of brilliant people who do not have sufficient testimonies to strengthen their LinkedIn positioning. They can use your recommendation on LinkedIn to enhance their portfolio. It is not essential that the person has to be a co-worker. You can be in the same industry but practising in different locations. It can also be a professional characteristic of the person that you can highlight. If you want to do it for your senior, you should. If you're going to do it for your junior or peers, you should. We all need to have each other's backs.
Express Gratitude through Opportunity Recommendation
The word is "opportunity" because it is not available to everyone. So, if you come across an opportunity, please recommend the person if you are sure about the person's interest. If you are grateful to someone, you might spend a little time discovering their interests. And without shooting those flashy thank you-s, you might as well mean that in action. It all depends on how much of a giver you are and your reasonability. Because if you endorse a negative attitude, you'll set an example for others to misread your intent.
Book an Airbnb Experience to Express Gratitude and Appreciation
Do you know if a colleague of yours is going to their hometown? Or, your past recommender for a university program is on their way for a vacation? Gift them an Airbnb experience. It is not to pay for their hotel stay (you may if you wish). I suggest gifting a local experience that'll make the entire trip/travel a memorable one. For example, it could be an hour's class in exotic Indian spices or a workshop on flower arrangement. If the person is an anthropologist, you can suggest experience with the local tribe of a place that's on the verge of extinction. Such appreciation comes with holistic values.
Gift a Hobby Kit to Appreciate
Supporting someone to engage in a hobby is a rare thing because we all are always running against time, and there is not a moment of leisure. Also, with age and responsibilities, hobbies fad away. But do you know that a hobby is a reinstatement of one's happy days and celebration of their natural talent which has died in the race? It could be a candle making set, or LEGOs, anything that excites the person's creative instincts. This way of making room in a person's life for their well-being is as sweeter than a bar of Cadbury.
Gift a Book of Gratitude
Wait for the person's birthday. Use this time to gather as many positive information about this person available online or facts sourced through their friends and families. Make a (if possible, a visual) scrapbook—it can be a digital presentation or a physical endeavour, depends on how you are connected. Either way, imagine a person, at the end of the day, flipping through a book that highlights their kindness cultivated in their daily lives. This positive reinforcement casts a net on validation that every person is always seeking albeit unconsciously. Trust me that this gift is more potent than many luxurious things available in the market today. I hope you have enjoyed these suggestions and agree with me that an act of gratitude is more significant than a regular "Thank you." Also, look at it, when you put any special effort to appreciate another person, it reflects your magnanimous persona. Believe me; people can have money, but only a few can match the level of gratitude achieved by Jim and Della in O'Henry's Gift of Magii. Or something closer to the heart, the poet Shelly Bhoil, who is always available as a blood donor in gratitude of receiving a second chance at life through her uncle. If you have tried any one of the above suggestions, or plan to, or already tried, share in comments. Let gratitude and appreciation be our watchword. I wish you happiness and your well-wisher, an extra scoop of joy. Thank you for reading. I am grateful to have you here. Read the full article
