評論
打印
While writing the notes, I eventually realized why this task was the perfect antidote to my social feeds.
我在寫感謝信時，終于意識到為什么這個任務是我瀏覽社交信息的完美解毒劑。
What was I actually doing when I scrolled through Facebook?
當我瀏覽臉書時，我到底在做什么？
Too often, I was spiraling into rage.
我大多數時候都是越來越憤怒。
Writing thank-you notes was time spent on something purely positive.
而寫感謝信是把時間花在一些積極的事情上。
What was I doing when I scrolled through Instagram?
瀏覽Instagram時，我在做什么？
More often than not, I was admiring other people's lives—their beach vacations, their chubby babies, their organized kitchens.
我常常欣賞別人的生活，他們在海灘度假他們胖乎乎的孩子，他們井井有條的廚房。
Writing thank-you notes was an act of noticing and honoring my own life.
寫感謝信是一種關注并尊重自己生活的行為。
After handing the first batch of notes to my neighbors, I spent a few days trying to remember times when other neighbors did something nice for me.
在把第一批感謝信交給鄰居后，我花了幾天時間試圖回憶其他鄰居為我做的好事。
And funny enough, I started noticing kindnesses that were happening in real time.
有趣的是，我開始注意到實時發生的友好舉動。
There was the driver who waited for me as I bolted down the street to catch his shuttle bus.
我沿街狂奔趕班車時，司機會等一下我。
There was the cashier at Trader Joe's who chased me with a bag of groceries I'd left behind.
喬氏超市的收銀員會追趕我，把我忘拿的一袋食品交還給我。
On the day I delivered that card to Trader Joe's, my mother-in-law, Louise, dropped off a week's worth of dinners.
在我把這張感謝卡交到喬氏超市的當天，我的岳母路易絲帶來了一周的晚餐。
OK, I thought, Louise is not technically a neighbor.
我想，好吧，露易絲嚴格上來說不是鄰居。
But if I was going to thank grocer Pete for three minutes of his time, I needed to acknowledge Louise for hours of hers.
但是，如果我要感謝食品雜貨商皮特幫我的三分鐘，我就要感謝露易絲花費了長達數小時的時間。
It was important for these months to be flexible, I decided.
我決定，這幾個月保持靈活性很重要。
I would use each month's theme as a starting point,
我會把每個月的主題作為一個起點，
but I'd also watch for anyone going above and beyond, regardless of whether he or she fit into the monthly theme.
但我也會關注任何超出主題范圍的人，不管他或她是否適合當月的主題。
So in the ensuing months, as I wrote to friends, doctors, career mentors, and parenting role models,
所以，在接下來的幾個月里，當我寫信給朋友、醫生、職業導師和為人父母的榜樣時，
I also dashed off missives to my husband, Jake, as well as my siblings, in-laws, and parents.
我也給丈夫杰克，以及兄弟姐妹、姻親和父母發信。
And I found that doing so changed the fundamental dynamics of these relationships in small but impactful ways.
我發現這樣做改變了這些關系中的基本動力，雖然改變很微小，但卻很有影響力。
I was smoothing out any prickly bumps and buffing them to a new shine.
我正在解決與他們之間存在的問題，讓關系煥然一新。
It is a powerful thing, I learned, to fully appreciate and feel fully appreciated by the people closest to you.
我意識到，去感激與你最親近的人，并感受到那種感激之情是一件極具影響力的事。
