Walking across Central Park this morning, I had a memory float into my mind that touched me.  It involved someone I care about deeply, and I was filled with gratitude for what that memory represented.  Because I had my cell phone with me, I was able to leave a message for this person, expressing my gratitude and appreciation for their presence in my life, and for the many gifts they have given me along the way.

All of this got me to thinking about how important it is to express love to people who are important to us, how powerful it is to thank people along the way for things they have done for us.  This may involve people we know very well, or chance encounters on the street.  The key thing is that we actively express these positive responses to other people when we have the urge to do so.

So often, in our busy lives, the thought may come to send someone a card, or leave them a message, or say something we’ve been meaning to say for a long time and then the next thing comes along and we don’t get around to sharing what we feel.  As I walked along this morning, I was filled with the sense of how important it is to actually follow through with these urges to share because, otherwise, they may fall by the wayside and remain unsaid.

For this week’s experiment, I invite you to use the week to practice following through on expressions of gratitude, love, and appreciation for and to the people in your life.  This may involve people you see all the time, people you rarely see, and the strangers that come in and out of your life on a daily basis.  As you express these positive feelings to the people around you, notice what happens in you.  Do you feel more filled up by the end of the day?  Do you feel nourished by the process of actively expressing your positive feelings about people to them?  Do you feel shy when you think of telling someone how much they mean to you, or how much you appreciated something they did for you when you really needed it?  Take time to explore your internal experience as you engage this experiment, and notice if the quality of your day is at all affected by this activity.

Also, as you play with this experiment, notice what comes back to you after a period of time.  Gratitude tends to generate more gratitude; good feelings tend to generate more good feelings.  Explore what it’s like when you begin a circle of gratitude with the people in your life.  When you model reaching out with supportive statements, you may find that others begin to more actively express their appreciation for you, as well.

The give-and-take process of expressing and receiving these kinds of positive messages can enhance your quality of life in some lovely ways.  Imagine coming home to an unexpected message from a friend, saying how much she or he appreciates having you in their life.  Or, imagine what you would see on the face of a store clerk if you take the time to express your appreciation for their help.

As with all the experiments, there are no right answers about how to do this one.  It is an invitation to explore what happens in your world when you go ahead and say things you may have thought to share but didn’t follow through with doing.  It is an invitation to be generous with your positive feelings about the people who are important to you, and for whom you have great appreciation.

Remember to bring along curiosity as your constant companion and to pat judgments gently on the head and let them just move on through if they should arise.  And, most of all, enjoy the process of sharing good feelings with others and then notice how it affects the quality of your internal experience.