2.2 Assignment. Delivering Gratitude
Getting Started
There is an increasing emphasis these days on the importance of gratitude. It’s hard to be angry with someone, hold a grudge, retaliate or be uncivil if you have a spirit of gratitude. Gratitude is a choice to focus on what you have been given, opportunities that have come your way, and people who have extended to you acts of kindness and compassion. Gratitude roots out feelings of entitlement and instead looks at the blessings. Gratitude is seeing the silver lining in a given situation.
In the previous course (PSY-562), we defined gratitude as “a sense of thankfulness and joy in response to receiving a gift.” That “gift” can be a tangible object, money, time, support, a place to live, etc. In the third workshop of the previous course, you were asked to write a short letter of gratitude to someone from whom you had received a “gift” that had changed your life in some significant way. You were then asked to post your letter in the discussion forum and interact with your fellow classmates on each other’s stories. You were also introduced at that time to the importance of gratitude in positive psychology.
In this assignment, you will take the concept of gratitude one step further. In the previous course, you were given the option to write about your gratitude to either a living person or one that was deceased. If the person was still living you were encouraged to share your gratitude letter with them but it wasn’t required.
In this assignment, you will write a letter to a living person and actually deliver your message to them personally. The most potent expression of gratitude is in a face-to-face exchange, but you can also choose to use a virtual delivery system such as Facetime, Google hangouts, or even a phone call. You don’t want to send an email or mail a letter or leave a voice mail. You want to be able to say what you want and have that person be able to immediately respond. While this might sound a little inconvenient, it is well worth the effort. People respond in powerful ways to gratitude: both the giver and receiver. You get to be the giver in this situation.
Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:
· Deliver a live message of gratitude to a person who has made a significant contribution to your life.
Background Information
To get the most from this assignment, it’s important that you choose a living person who has truly influenced your life in a meaningful way. It could be a family member, teacher, coach, Scout leader, neighbor, or friend, among others. Ideally, it should be a person to whom you’ve not previously expressed this type of gratitude and want to do so now. This simple exercise of gratitude could change that person’s life in a way that might surprise you.
Instructions
1. In your textbook, Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute for Life Coach Training, read Chapter 5.
2. Watch the YouTube video “An Experiment in Gratitude/The Science of Happiness”:
3. Write a letter of gratitude to a living person. Then you will personally deliver the message of gratitude to that person and report on it in the Workshop Three discussion. Your letter should include the following:
a. Who the person is
b. What your relationship with them is (how you know them, for how long, and the extent that you’ve kept in touch since you first met)
c. What your life was like before they gave you the “gift”
d. What their “gift” to you was—be specific in your explanation
e. How their “gift” changed/shaped/influenced you then and how it still affects you today
f. A way you pass this “gift” on to others
4. When you have completed your assignment, save a copy for yourself and submit a copy to your instructor by the end of Day Four of this workshop.