Who Would Make Your Acceptance Speech?

I don’t usually watch the Academy Awards, but this year I was trying to calm a fussy baby during the first hour or so of the presentation, and it got me thinking about gratitude.

There aren’t a lot of opportunities in our lives to thank the people who mean the most to us. It’s no wonder the stars get flummoxed when they have to condense a lifetime of appreciation into a 45-second soundbite. You don’t want to leave anyone out.

In our lives, we’ll probably never get such a chance to thank the people who mean the most to us in a public way. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it. There are opportunities practically every day to thank people who have helped us, given us encouragement, made us who we are.

But for the most part we pass these opportunities by. We don’t take the time — and it doesn’t really take a lot of time — to say thank you or tell someone they’re appreciated.

Of course we almost all end up regretting that we didn’t tell someone what they meant to us when we had a chance to.

A Mission of Gratitude

So this week, try to think about who you would thank in your acceptance speech if you were given a chance to thank everyone who was important to you in front of a live audience. Give yourself more than 45 seconds, though. You’ve probably got a lot more people to thank that would fit in that small space.

Think about your family, friends who have supported your dream, editors who have shown faith in your ideas and potential, colleagues who show interest and make you smile when things are rough.

If it feels too cheesy to thank someone in person out of the blue like this, send off a quick e-mail. It will make that person’s day and make you feel better, too. It may not be as good as winning an Oscar, but it’s still pretty sweet.