A February Resolution

Well, hello there!

I hope you had a great January. How did your donation go? Our one donation turned into two, and I’ve started another pile that will go out later this month.

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of burdens being lifted. It’s amazing.

With that, are you ready for February’s resolution? Here it is!

Handwritten Notes

Your challenge is to write at least 10 handwritten notes. They can be written to any person–family, friends, acquaintances, or even strangers. They can be any type of note–just a hello, a thank you, a birthday card, or an apology letter.

The only rule? They have to be mailed or hand-delivered before the end of the month.

The rationale behind this resolution is simple: Handwritten notes are becoming a lost art. Not completely, mind you, but texts and emails and DMs are rapidly replacing handwritten communication.

And in some ways, that’s a good thing. For instance, most people hate unnecessary meetings. The only people who enjoy them are usually the ones doing all the talking. Emails have helped eliminate some of those meetings. Not all, but we’ll never see perfection this side of heaven. So I’ll take what I can get.

But in other ways, handwritten communication is desperately needed. It shows effort and forethought. It’s personalized, and it requires some time. If someone is willing to take the time and effort to handwrite me a note and send it through snail mail, they’re trying to communicate with me. And that effort can go a long way to build people up and maintain (or rebuild) relationships.

10 notes may sound like a lot, but it will require some time. You can make it easier by forming your list now and then committing to writing one note every other day until you complete your list.

Or, if you’re the “let’s knock it out all at once” type of person, go for it! Whether you write them all at once or over the span of three weeks, you’ll benefit from it.

Not only will this exercise help you be intentional about your communication and relationships, but it will also bring some sunshine into the lives of those to whom you choose to send a note.

Notes in Action

I remember a year and a half ago, my husband and I were about to move to a new town. Moving is always an exciting, terrifying, exhausting, nostalgic, and sad time. Basically, it’s an emotional rollercoaster as you simultaneously pack up 100,000 things into boxes. Less if you’re a minimalist. 🙂

A couple of weeks before we were set to leave, we started getting notes in the mail from people in our soon-to-be town. People that I’d never met. People that were pouring out love and encouragement from two and a half hours away. And I went to this new place loving people I’d never met. That’s how powerful it was.

So for this month? I resolve to use that power to lift up other people, one note at a time. Are you with me?