Thinking something nice about someone?

When you think something nice about someone, you should tell them. Immediately.

People don’t hear enough compliments.

Even well-known people. We assume they must hear it too much. But famous people often say the thanks from the public is the best part of the job. They work really hard to spread their creations widely. They could just sit home and keep their thoughts to themselves, but instead they do the hard labor of turning their ideas into something digestable, then brave public critique in the media, all for the generous act of sharing their work with the world. It’s not for the money, since they could make more as a banker/programmer. It’s for the deeper happiness of making a difference in people’s lives.

So I think of it as my duty, when someone has made a difference in my life, to let them know.

Recent examples:

• Appreciated a close friend for preparing food for me.
• Emailed a blogger for how awesome their posts are.
• Told the guy at the cafe that I loved his shirt with the Atari Adventure dragon.
• ... and complimented three adorable dogs (to their owners) while out on my walk in the city the other day.

These examples took a combined total of about fifteen minutes of my life. By text or email, I send just two or three sentences. If I must complement in real life, I keep it to a sentence or two. Short and sweet.

As soon as I feel the need to appreciate, I flip over to my email app, tap tap tap send, and get back to what I was doing.

Side note: Perhaps half the time my emails receive no replies, but that's totally okay!