Happy my Birthday

For my birthday. I want to tell you about something I’ve started to do to celebrate. Write a thank you note. Here’s one now, for you.

Dear person who’s willing to open my email, or any email that isn’t absolutely necessary,

Thank you. Thank you for giving the bandwidth to the possibility that something not on your to do list might still be worth a few minutes. Thank you for reading someone else’s thoughts and ideas and considering if – and how – they might be of use in your own life or work. Thank you for sharing a bit of your inbox with me.

Of all the pieces and parts of my work, this weekly correspondence is one of the most useful to me. I have to think deeply about how I use this generous few minutes of your time. I craft my idea to be genuinely useful or meaningful or at least funny, and as short as possible! 

And I am sharing these authentic sentiments with you for two reasons. The first is my very real gratitude. The third is that I’ve found, as someone whose birthday is a highlight, that I have a better birthday if I use it as a reason to tell people in my life how much they mean to me. I hope idea is useful to you, too, and that because of this letter you have a happier my birthday (and yours)!

All my best,

Dr. G