A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life

by John Kralik

"[A] profoundly honest and uplifting" memoir about a man who turned his life around by writing thank you notes to all who had showed him kindness (Jeffrey Zaslow, National Bestselling author of The Last Lecture)

At age fifty-three, John Kralik found his life at a frightening his law firm was failing; he was struggling through a painful divorce; he had grown distant from his children; he was forty pounds overweight; his girlfriend had just broken up with him; and his dream of becoming a judge—seemed to have slipped beyond his reach.

Inspired by a note his ex-girlfriend had sent to thank him for his Christmas gift, John imagined that he might find a way to feel grateful for what he did have in his life by writing thank-you notes. He set himself a goal of writing 365 thank-you notes in the coming year.

One by one, he began to handwrite thank yous—for gifts or kindnesses he'd received from loved ones and coworkers, from college friends and doctors and store clerks and handymen and neighbors—anyone who'd done him a good turn, however large or small. Immediately after he'd sent his very first notes, significant and surprising benefits began to come John's way—from financial gain to true friendship, from weight loss to inner peace. While John wrote his notes, the economy collapsed, the bank across the street from his office failed, but thank-you note by thank-you note, John's whole life turned around.

A Simple Act of Gratitude is a rare its touching, immediately accessible message—and benefits—come to readers from the plainspoken storytelling of an ordinary man. To read A Simple Act of Gratitude is to be changed.

Genres: Nonfiction

242 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 27, 2011

Reviews

[RAHalstead · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of real challenge in a life and a big attitude change that transformed it.

I liked the details of his mistakes as well as his triumphs. It touched my heart at a time that I needed to be reassured that goodness counts.

[Lorraine Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

thank you goes a long way

The Thank you notes are inspiring. I am going to start writing more. It changes lives for the better. I’m ready to enjoy a fuller life.

[Ingrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has an interesting concept - Can writing 365 thank you notes change your life? For the author the answer is yes. Frankly, Kralik was pretty much a loser. It was interesting to see how his life slowly began to change for the better over time.

This was an interesting read, but Kralik is a lawyer, not a writer. The language was pretty simplistic. I found myself wondering how much was left in the book and pushing myself to finish.

[Quiltmom14 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars because the premise is such a good one. it’s one thing to keep a “gratitude journal” and another to actually think about whom you’d like to thank for bringing a moment of joy in to your life - and then letting him/her know. Unfortunately for me, the writing was non-descript and became repetitive with each letter. On writing alone, I would have given this book a 2.5.

[Jodi Z]

This is a book that I like to revisit often. Gratitude has the potential to change us and John's story illustrates that so beautifully. A worthy, inspiring read. (Previously published as "365 Thank Yous."

[Tierni DeForest · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might give it a 2 1/2 star. I wish we had half stars. I wanted to like this book a whole lot more than I did!
it was very slow going. I like the idea of writing thank you notes one a day for a year , this just didn’t ever grab me and it was not very well written in my opinion.

[Joan Drage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads like a novel! 10 stars!!

This is wonderful! Read it in one day. (A long day, but a day.)

Had to remind myself countless times that this was a true story and not really good fiction.

Yes - I am aware of the 5 star rating. I still give it 10.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and inspirational book on gratitude and saying and writing the important words of Thank YOU!

[Jeanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book about learning to be more thankful and taking the time to let it be known.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and inspiring.

[Alemma James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only read this because I saw a man reading this on the plane and I was curious to see what all he may be learning from this.