The Gratitude Letter

The most powerful gratitude exercise I know takes less than an hour — and can change two lives at once.

It’s called “The Gratitude Letter.” 🙏

You pick someone who changed your life — someone you’ve never properly thanked.

The you write to them directly, describing what they did, what it meant, and how it shaped you. And give them the letter.

That’s it.

It sounds simple, but the effects can be profound — for both the giver and receiver.

The exercise was inspired by a story from Martin Seligman.
In one of his classes, students brought someone important in their lives — a parent, sibling, friend, mentor — without telling them why. Then they read letters of gratitude aloud.

“There was literally not a dry eye in the room,” he wrote.
A student later called it “one of the greatest nights of my life.”

We included this exercise in WOL Resilience because gratitude isn’t soft or sentimental.
It’s fuel — for connection, for meaning, for happiness.

Even thinking about the letters I want to write makes me feel better.
🙏 To my sister.
🙏 To a teacher who changed my life.
🙏 To my mother (who died in 2003).

Who would you write to?
Who has made a difference in your life — and deserves to know it?