Thank you

Friends! Thank you so much for taking a time to visit my Gratitude Rock site. It is an idea that you can use. It is non-commercial and feel free to use the idea and documents made available, here.

Your comments are most welcomed and appricated.

Tom

What is a Gratitude Rock?

A gratitude rock is a small stone, which you use to remind yourself of the need for gratitude in our world.

It is neither a magical nor religious belief. But if you carry a gratitude rock in your pocket or purse, it will bring you good things to your life. So why would a simple piece of rock manage to do that? Well, there is a good reason.

A Gratitude rock might be a just a little stone you found in your garden or by a river or ocean. You may buy it at a store, or receive it as a gift from a friend. Its origin can be simple but it becomes important when you designate it as your gratitude rock.

Keep it easily accessible, on your desk or into your pocket. Just occasionally take it out or feel it in your hands. Its main function is to remind you of your sense of gratitude.

A heartfelt sense of gratitude is the most important human emotion within the human society in which we live. Someone does you a small favor and you express your gratitude by saying “thank you”. The expression of gratitude makes both of you feel good.

People with sense of gratitude are appreciated and liked by people. And naturally, people will be friendlier and drawn to grateful individuals because they feel good knowing you will recognize their good deeds. They will watch out for you and come back in time of your need to help you out.

Good fortune and happiness flow from people around you. It is your sense of gratitude that people will notice, and that will draw them to treat you in positive ways.
An expression of gratitude flows both ways, Your sense of gratitude will be contagious, causing others to say, “Thanks, let me know if there is anything I can do for you”

On the other hand if your do not express your gratitude when someone does a favor for you, that person is going to feel unfulfilled. If you help someone and that person walks away without a word of “thank you”, you rightly will be upset and think “I’m not going to help out that person, ever again”.

So a sense of gratitude is an important thing. It is commonsense, really.

However, we sometimes forget our sense of gratitude. Just try to remember the last time you said “Thank you” to someone. If it is difficult to recall, why is this?

Is it because you don’t actually have sense of gratitude?
Is it because there is hardly anything for which to be thankful?
Is it because we just forget to say Thank you?

Living in a human society with a lot of interaction, there should be a lot to be thankful for, yet we take it for granted and forget.

That is exactly why we need a reminder. A Gratitude stone is a reminder to be grateful and that one should express our gratitude to others.

So making a personal association between the Gratitude stone in your hand, and the wisdom of freely expressing gratitude will improve your life, and the lives of many others. You will care more about others, and they will be aware of your human needs. With gratitude freely expressed between people, there will be more good fortune and satisfaction. A simple stone, as a reminder of Gratitude, can be a powerful and wonderful thing. Isn’t it easy? And simple, too.

So find yourself a rock and make it your Gratitude Rock.

Wrong way to use the Gratitude Rock

If you would like to give a gratitude rock to your friends or family, here is how to do it.

Gather around 20 to 30 small stones. Nicer looking the better. Put them in a nice sack so that they look worth something. Invest yourself in the selection of the stones because they will be gifts to others.

Show that person your rock selection and explain the concept of the Gratitude Rock. It is always best to explain this fully, as I have described above. If you have difficulty, use this manual when explaining. Make sure that person understands the concept.

Then let them decide which rock they want. It is very important that they decide which rock is going to be their Gratitude rock. Never decide for them. Unless the person makes a conscious decision, he will have no ‘investment’ in his Gratitude rock.

Once the person has picked out a rock and chosen to keep it, tell
“You have decided this rock to be your Gratitude Rock. Always keep it around you as a reminder to be thankful”

Never, demand or expect any favor or financial gain from giving a Gratitude Rock.

Introducing Gratitude Rock at School

If you are a teacher and would like to introduce this idea in the classroom, here is a way to do it.

You will need two short sessions.

Before you begin, you will need to have your own Gratitude Rock. If you don’t believe in it, you won’t be able to convince anyone.

The first session is to introduce the Gratitude Rock. Explain fully the concept as per written above. You may wish to use this manual if you’d like. Two concepts you must stress are the concept of Gratitude and why it is important in our society. Second is the system of reminder. Why we need a rock.

You may have a class discussion on the subject of Gratitude.

At the end of the first session, distribute this paper and tell the class to find their own little rock.



My name is _____________ and this is my gratitude rock. I have designated this rock to remind myself sense of gratitude because_________________________________
_____________________________________________________(Not more than 100 words)




Second session: a week later

One by one have everyone in the class stand up and show their designated gratitude rock and read out load what he or she has written. This will reinforce the concept. If they forget to bring their gratitude rock, what ever you do, do not scold them. Last thing you want is to associate the gratitude rock with negative feelings.

That’s it. Just two sessions to discuss “Gratitude”.
It’ll be worth it.

About the Gratitude Rock Manual

Tom Sato in Tokyo Japan created this document in May 2006. The English version was edited by Len Zemaitis and updated Nov 2007.The original Japanese document was written in 2005 January.

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