by Alex Cull

Created on: August 04, 2008   Last Updated: October 24, 2011

Remember when you were about seven years old and it was your birthday, and you had presents - some from your Mummy and Daddy and others from remoter, more distant personages such as aunties and uncles, or even a great-aunt?

And then perhaps your Mum made you sit down and write letters to each of your aunties and uncles to say thank you for the present you had had from her or him, even if it was a pair of hand-knitted socks, and not the train set, Barbie or samurai sword you had really wanted.

And there you sat, with paper and pencil in front of you, feeling vaguely resentful (even though you ought to have been bubbling with gratitude) and were unable to think of a single thing to write, beyond the obvious "Thank you for the nice socks."

Yes, surely I'm exaggerating just a mite. But I did have to write thank-you letters and it did feel like a very onerous chore at the time, from my childish perspective. I don't have to do this any more, of course, firstly because I'm now a grown-up, and secondly because there aren't exactly truckloads of birthday presents arriving for me these days.

Being a grown-up has its advantages because, despite a dearth of items in shiny wrapping paper, life usually provides plenty of other things to be very thankful to others for. There are parties, gatherings, concerts, courses, seminars, evening classes, get-togethers, trips, outings, and probably lots of other reasons to go out, brush up on skills, enrich one's mind and, last but not least, enjoy doing so and feel grateful towards the people who have devoted time, money and effort to make these events happen.

Now I'm wondering what you think I'll be writing next. Maybe how glad I am that I'm not compelled to say thank you to anyone any more, now I'm over 40? Actually, no. The opposite, in fact - thank-you letters are an excellent idea, and I have put together the following list of reasons why I've changed my mind in the years since childhood.

1) Technology has moved along since the 1970s - we now (most of us) have access to e-mail. It's fast, it's cheap, it's convenient - no more pencils and notepaper. (Although in fact a hand-written letter can have an especially positive impact, as it shows that you have been willing to go to some trouble.)

2) Expressing gratitude makes you happier! At this point I could have searched for some appropriate piece of research from the field of positive psychology to back this up, but have been prevented by sheer laziness. However, this is an easy one

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