What you do matters

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you”?

~ William A. Ward

Appreciation and gratitude are words that we throw around from time to time, usually at the end of an exercise when passing out awards or when someone has completed their time in our organization and are in transition. But we all like to be recognized for our work. In fact, we all need to be affirmed that what we do has value. That can be in our jobs, but also in our home, our social circle, our extended family, etc. Gratitude comes from a heart that is humble enough to understand that other people contribute to make your world a better place.

The COVID pandemic has been so hard on people because they don’t get to contribute in their normal ways, or by teleworking without the normal office interactions, they question if their efforts are valued in their communities.

You are here for this time, during a pandemic and a very busy time as a new school and fiscal year start, playing an important role in the lives of other people. What you do matters to many people. The Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) and Army family would be worse off without your unique contributions: your actions, your words, your presence, your concern for your battle buddy to the left and right, and much more.

I want to encourage you to look for opportunities to demonstrate appreciation and gratitude. That might be in words, or words and actions. As President Kennedy said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

Thank you YPG team-mate for all that you do!