Showing your appreciation for your family and friends should be a pleasure. The support our loved ones offer us on a daily basis makes life run more smoothly, the laughter of our friends and co-workers makes our day brighter. We have good intentions to show our gratitude, but somehow, we often forget those potent little words, ?thank you?.

You don't have to write in a journal, or mentally count your blessings each day. There are several ways to let someone know you appreciate them.

Smile.

One of the easiest things to do is smile at another person; it's truly amazing to watch how one smile can create feelings of validation and happiness, and that smile in turn is shared with many other people and spread outward in an invisible but palpable wave of goodwill.

?Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.? -Marcel Proust

Say it.

If you can teach yourself to remember to say ?thanks? throughout your day to the people you interact with, your own sense of well-being will be properly balanced, and you will feel more internal peace and outward harmony. To express gratitude grounds us and restores calm to our soul, knowing we are treating others as we ourselves wish to be treated.

Send it.

To go a step further, and give something of ourselves in appreciation of others, will lighten your heart. When you do, you know it feels great; it truly is more satisfying to give than to receive. Giving a small token of esteem or thanks makes everyone feel wonderful; the receiver is acknowledged for their positive support, the giver knows they have given, not just a gift, but a feeling of satisfaction in another that is sorely missing from many hectic lives.

?Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.? ? William Arthur Ward

What kind of gift is appropriate for an everyday, out-of-the-blue thank you present? You are only limited by your imagination.

Show how well you know your friend or co-worker well by giving a gift you know they'll enjoy. The simplest things are often the most pleasurable. A handwritten note to a relative, a new CD of a friend's favourite band, a selection of fine coffees or imported teas and treats for a colleague or client will bring a twinkle to their eyes and increase the vibrations of positive energy around them.

A lovely gift basket of goodies delivered as a surprise can achieve it all in one fell swoop. A carefully selected, beautifully presented basket allows your friend to share with others; again allowing the waves of goodwill to spread even farther. It's amazing how people can bond over a box of deluxe cookies or a cup of gourmet coffee; and even the aroma of such treats has a positive impact on people's moods. Coffee and tea gift baskets or carefully selected thank you gift baskets can fit the bill with a combination of both beverages and goodies.

An unexpected gift, no matter how small, brings a sudden flush of excitement to everyone as they absorb the fact that someone appreciates them enough to say ?thank you.?

So remember the three ?S's of gratitude:

* Smile.

* Say ?thank you?.

* Send a token of appreciation.

Don't you feel happier already? Knowing you can bring a little joy to the people who matter most is both empowering and inspiring.

Oh, and lest I forget, thank you for taking the time to read this article.