Why, Thank You.

In my line of work thank you's are far and few between.  

One of the first things I was told, was that this is a "thankless" job.

At first I thought that cannot be.  When TLC's visited my chapter, we overwhelmed her with appreciation and thanks.

Well, turns out they tell you that for a reason... to prepare you for the times when you work your you know what off and get zero gratitude in return.  Don't get me wrong, there are chapters and sisters who are so incredibly appreciative they write you cards, give you gifts, and send you emails even weeks after you leave the chapter.  And I promise, the good outweighs the bad, but I still wonder...

You know the saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," well that's pretty much my life day to day.  Yes I stay up until 3am during recruitment, plan chapter retreats hours ahead of time, spend countless hours training officers and giving them fresh ideas--all things that deserve those two simple words, however they are spoken maybe 50% of the time.  During my first visits, this did kill me and definitely did not make me stronger.  

Now I take every experience as a learning experience.  As a whole, it definitely taught me how amazing it feels to get told "thank you, I don't know what we would have done without you here."  It also taught me that it doesn't take more than a phone call, or my favorite, a handwritten note to express your thanks.  Because of that, I have become obsessed with finding cute stationary.  I send cards to chapters throughout the semester just to say 'Hi!,' thank you cards to Greek Advisors for taking time out of their busy schedule to meet with me, Province Presidents for all their help and guidance, and just random 'Thinking of you cards' to the people who really touched my life in a special way.

I look for new stationary everywhere I go.  Papyrus, Lilly Pulitzer, and The Stationary Studio.com have some great choices.  Here are some of my favorites:

How do you like to say thanks?