Letter writing really is a lost art and sometimes I think a very undervalued one in our modern digital society! What is not lost or undervalued, however, is the art of writing a thank you note. Since the new year and plenty of holidays just passed, I thought this would be a good time to urge everyone to write someone a thank you note. Perhaps it is for a gift you received, or a favor someone paid you, or perhaps its just to thank someone for being there for you when you needed it, but right now I urge you to add sending a thank you note to your to do list for the day!
How To Write a Thank You Note
Writing a thank you note is easy once you know who you are sending it to and why. They don’t need to be long, drawn out letters, although they can be, but just a sentence or two written in gratefulness will do! It is very important, when it comes to thank you notes, that they be written by hand. That is really the only rule I think worth following when it comes to them. Timeliness is also important, but I always think that when it comes to gratitude, better late than never! So, here are a few rules for writing thank you notes that you can keep as a little cheat sheet for yourself!
1. Always write a thank you note by hand (You may need to decide which form of handwriting of yours is best and most legible, it doesn’t matter if you write in cursive or not!)
2. Mail a thank you within two weeks of receiving a gift (unless its a wedding gift in which a 2 month span is allowed for larger weddings).
3. Be sincere when writing the note, your tone will show!
4. Send thank you notes often, even for simple things and favors!
Now, to get you started, I have written a few little excerpts that you can copy and use for your own thank you notes in case you have trouble giving words to your feelings. Don’t be ashamed of this, people often find it difficult to express gratitude, and after a while of using the words of others, you will be able to develop some words of your own.
Dear NAME OF RECIPIENT,
Thank You so much for the GIFT HERE! I am very grateful and appreciative of your generosity!
Best Regards,
YOUR NAME
Thank you, NAME OF RECIPIENT, for the lovely gift! I am so grateful that you thought me on my NAME OF EVENT!
Thanks again,
YOUR NAME
Dear NAME OF RECIPIENT,
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for DESCRIPTION OF FAVOR! I truly appreciate that you were willing to help me and I am very grateful for your FRIENDSHIP OR SUPPORT!
Thoughtfully,
YOUR NAME
I hope this inspired you to start writing thank you notes to those in your life who show you their generosity and support! Do you have any tips for writing Thank You Notes that you can share in the comments?
I never grew up writing thank you notes, in fact I think the only time I’ve ever written them was for my high school graduation gifts, but I always wanted to start. Maybe this will be the year I start, I would love to instill the habit of sending thank you’s in my future children, but I can’t really do that until I start doing it myself.
That’s a great point! It starts with you first and then your children will pick it up!
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