FAQ's | COMMENTS

Why bother with all of this "gratitude" stuff, anyway? What's so important about gratitude? Well, simply put, gratitude is a powerful force for attracting and creating more of what you want in the world - and in your own life.

If you look at the Creation Process, in everything that we do and create in our lives we Think -> Feel -> Act -> Experience. We have a thought about something. That thought creates a feeling in us, which magnifies or adds power to the thought. That feeling motivates us to Act on the Thought. Our actions create results - cause and effect. Those results become our Experience. As much as this might appear to be a linear process, it is actually a cycle. Because our Experience forms our beliefs, or our paradigms, which then influence the way we Think about and interpret our future Experience.

Gratitude is a critical part of this process because it focuses your Thoughts on what you want to create rather than what you don't want to create. So many of us are focused on negativity, pain, suffering, and conflict in our lives when what we really want is to be positive, happy, joyful, accepted and loved. By focusing your Thoughts on what you're grateful for in your life, and feeling the feeling of Gratitude, you add power to that, and you attract more of it to you. You Act in a more positive way, and your positive actions create positive results. People respond to you in a more positive way.

When I am grateful to those who serve for me, I am affirming that I am Free, and I am Safe, and I have literally millions of people who care enough about me and my Freedom to dedicate themselves to serving to protect and defend it. I am telling the world and the universe that I like and value Freedom, and Safety, and Service to others. And in doing so, I am giving more energy and power to those things, and not to the culture of Fear and Isolation that has created so much conflict in our world.

Just imagine, if you will, what your life would look like if you had more Freedom and Love, and less Isolation and Fear. How would that look on a personal level? On a local level? On a national level? On a global level? It all starts with being grateful for what we already have.

The primary goal of our campaign is simply to encourage people to thank those who serve (or have served) for us when they see them out in public - a direct, personal thank you from one person to another. The best part of this is that it's absolutely FREE and it doesn't require any time out of your schedule. So, first and foremost, you can use our sign whenever you can, and you can teach it to others - including children.

As far as doing more, any initiative that becomes as large and as wide-spread as ours requires a certain amount of operating income to continue to grow. Producing videos, maintaining a dynamic web site, sending out videos to churches, Veteran's organizations, and television stations, producing marketing materials - it all adds up. So... we could use some help paying for that. But as we are not a registered non-profit yet, any donations that people might send right now would not be tax deductible. If you are interested in helping us financially, you can send donations payable to:

The Gratitude Campaign, c/o Scott Truitt
1911 Lake Heron Lane
Boise, ID 83706

If you're not comfortable with a non-deductible donation, or if making a donation doesn't work for you at this time, you can also support us with a purchase from the Wear It section of our web site. In addition to supporting us financially, your purchase will also help spread the word of our campaign to others.

If financial support isn't what you had in mind, or if you're just not in a position to help in that way, we can always use help in spreading our message. We have been very fortunate to get a fair amount of media coverage from local and regional news shows and cable networks. However, we have yet to get any national coverage. If you would like to contact any local or national shows that you think might be interested in covering our story that would be very helpful. The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Ellen Degeneres, Oprah... all of these would be great, and/or any others that you think would be appropriate. We have contacted some of these ourselves, but sometimes a "call from the masses" is more compelling than from the source. If you are able to get someone interested in covering our story, please simply have them contact us directly and we would be happy to take it from there.

Lastly, I will simply throw out something for you to ponder and address as you see fit: It occurs to me that, if we're being truly grateful for the service of those in the military, wouldn't the best way to support them be to not send them in to battle in the first place? Now, I'm not suggesting that we disband our military, or adopt a policy that we are never willing to stand up and fight for what's right when fighting is called for. But I am suggesting that, as civilians, we need to think about the lifestyle behaviors that we are engaging in that create a world dynamic of fear and isolation and invite conflict with other countries. What can we do in our daily lives to reduce the likelihood of war so that we can keep our service people as safe as they keep us? For instance, I hear a lot of people argue that the war in Iraq is all about oil. I'm not sure I agree entirely, but let's just say that it is. If that's true, then wouldn't reducing our consumption of foreign oil be a wonderful way to support our troops and allow them to come home? What kinds of lifestyle choices could we make on a daily basis that would reduce our dependence on foreign oil so that our politicians don't feel as great a need to provide us with a cheap source of foreign oil? This is just one example. These are big issues, and not necessarily ones that we have all the answers to. But we would like to encourage people to start thinking about them. We are. And we will share any solutions that we come up with on our web site as soon as we have them flushed out. We hope you'll think about it too, and see how they fit into your life.

You are absolutely correct - the sign, or gesture that we are using is not American Sign Language. Here on our web site you'll also find a page entitled "About The Sign" which explains:

According to Norman Heimgartner, Ed.D., author of "Behavioral Traits of Deaf Children" and former Professor of Education at the University of Puget Sound, this sign originated in France in the late 1700's, and was published in "Theorie des Signes", a dictionary of signs by the Abbe Sicard. The sign was brought to the United States in 1816 by the Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, founder of the American School for the Deaf, who later modified it to start at the chin rather than at the heart. That sign is now the standard sign for "thank you" in American Sign Language. The original sign, starting at the heart, is less commonly known today and might now be considered "slang". For more information on American Sign Language, please see www.aslta.org.

Using the standard ASL sign for "Thank You" was my original plan for this campaign. But when I/we considered the context in which this will be used we had some concerns. Unlike other situations where people are using ASL conversationally in public, our sign will be used largely at random from one passing stranger to another. It will be the only sign used - there will not be any other use of sign to give the receiver a context for the sender using "sign language". So this sign will come off as a passing gesture all on its own. If the receiver is not familiar with ASL (which is more likely than not going to be the case) they might mistake the ASL sign for Thank You for another well-known gesture that also uses one hand just under the chin - a rather offensive gesture. We didn't want those who serve to think that people were telling them to "_____ off." This is especially of concern because many of our military service personnel are still being spit upon and called offensive names by those who oppose the war in Iraq, and choose to take out their frustrations on those who serve rather than on the politicians who make our foreign policy decisions.

So we chose this sign because it starts at the heart. So even if the receiver doesn't know what it means the first time they see it, they'll know it comes from your heart, and that it is likely a good thing.

I hope that makes sense...

If you are comfortable saying "thank you" verbally, then by all means, do that. I still express my gratitude to those who serve verbally whenever I can. I believe that everyone should say "thank you" in whatever way works best for them - just so long as they're saying it. We are teaching people this sign for three reasons:

1. To give those who are not comfortable expressing themselves verbally a way to say it that they can and will do. I believe that a sign (similar to a military salute) is tenfold better than no thanks at all;
2. To provide another alternative for those times and places that a verbal expression is not possible. Maybe you're too far from the person you'd like to thank and you can't get to them. Or perhaps they look like they're in a hurry, or engaged in another conversation, and you don't want to interrupt them. There are a thousand times and places when even those of us who are comfortable saying it verbally need another option. And;
3. To make it easier on those military personnel who are not comfortable receiving verbal "thanks" from strangers, but still appreciate our support.

Again, I believe everyone should do what feels right to them in the moment. And I hope you'll understand and respect when others do what feels right to them.

If you have served, you've learned the proper etiquette, and you've earned the right to use a military salute, then I say by all means do that. If, however, you are a civilian and you have not earned the right to use a military salute, then I would highly recommend that you do not dishonor the tradition of the salute by using it improperly. If you salute a member of the military they are likely to return it out of reflex. However, in my experience, those who serve take the military salute very seriously, and they do not appreciate civilians using it improperly.

In addition, a salute is a sign of respect, not of gratitude. We chose this sign so that civilians would have a "salute" of their own - one designed for a specific audience, with a specific message: "thank you from the bottom of my heart."

The bracelet you see in our video is a Memorial Bracelet in honor of a Service Person who has lost their life in service. In this case, the bracelet honors Army Medic Sgt. Jeffrey Shaver, who was killed on a medical mission in Iraq on May 12th of 2004. Jeffrey is featured in the full length version of our video in the photos just after the line "it's about gratitude."

Jeffrey volunteered to serve in Iraq. He volunteered to go on that mission that day - it was technically his day off. And he volunteered to man the .50 cal machine gun on top of the HUMVEE that he was traveling in to escort a doctor to a small village to assess the local population's medical needs. He was killed instantly when an IED was detonated under his HUMVEE.

Jeffrey's service to his country is a shining example of the bravery, dedication, and love that he had for his family, his countrymen, and his fellow Soldiers. His medical assistance and service to the people of Iraq are a shining example of his love for all of humanity. And while Jeffrey's service resulted in an uncommon sacrifice for him and his loved ones, the valor and love with which he served is more common that you might think. And that is why we feature Jeffrey in our video as a symbol for all who serve.

The bracelet is held in the video by Master Sgt. Kevin Johnson, who was with Jeffrey when he was killed. Kevin wears his bracelet daily, as do many who served with Jeffrey.

The long version of our video refers to "Wear your red shirt on Friday, and keep that yellow ribbon on your car." The Red Shirt campaign has been around for years, and they encourage people to wear red shirts to work on Fridays to show their support for our Troops. My understanding is that the Red Shirts support all who serve, but they get the inspiration for the red shirt from those who serve in the Army and Marine Corps. If you happen to live in a part of the country that is closer to an Air Force base or Naval station, you may have heard about wearing blue shirts.

There are several such campaigns in existence today, including the ubiquitous yellow ribbon bumper sticker. All of which are wonderful expressions of gratitude and support for our Troops, and we encourage everyone to participate in any or all of these campaigns that strike a chord in your heart.

Having said that, with all of these campaigns out there, you may wonder why we decided to develop one more. We asked ourselves that question as well, prior to embarking on this journey. What we realized was that most of the other campaigns were what we would consider "passive" campaigns - meaning that there is no direct contact between the "thank-er" and the "thank-ee". You simply put a red shirt on for the day, or install a yellow ribbon on your car and hope that those who you are grateful to will see it and know that it is intended for them. With our campaign, it was important to us to encourage people to connect with another human being - to look them in the eye and share something from your heart. It's not about parades, or assemblies, or building monuments. It's simply about one human being looking another human being in the eye and opening their heart to them -- one person at a time.

So, we encourage you to participate in any and all campaigns that resonate with you. As we say in our video, "Visit the monuments, wear your red shirt on Friday, and keep that yellow ribbon on your car. Just don't miss the opportunity to thank the person right in front of you."

To be perfectly honest, I can't answer that question for you with absolute certainty. I can tell you that it is very likely that, yes, they will know what it means.

Two years after starting this campaign, our best estimates are that roughly 30 million people have seen our video, and more are seeing it every day. It has been seen in over 250 countries (with the vast majority of views in the United States and Canada). We have been featured on over 20 television stations and cable networks, and 17 radio stations across the country. Our video has been broadcast at professional sporting events in 11 cities, and on digital billboards and public kiosks throughout the country. We've been featured at film festivals, and written up in newspapers and magazines. It has been shown publicly at churches and organization meetings throughout the country. And because we make our video available to anyone who wants to share it, it has been posted on literally thousands of web sites and personal pages.

Obviously, many of those who have seen it are those who serve. Have every one of the 2.6 million people currently serving seen it? We don't know for sure. But what I can tell you is that while filming a story with a news reporter recently, 4 out of 6 of the Soldiers she interviewed for the story had seen our video and were familiar with our campaign.

So, will they all know what it means? Perhaps not yet. But most of them will. And those who don't are learning. And even if they don't know what it means the first time they see it, they'll know that it comes from your heart, and they'll "get it".

In a word, no. Here on our web site you'll also find a page entitled "About The Sign" which explains:

"According to Norman Heimgartner, Ed.D., author of "Behavioral Traits of Deaf Children" and former Professor of Education at the University of Puget Sound, this sign originated in France in the late 1700's, and was published in "Theorie des Signes", a dictionary of signs by the Abbe Sicard. The sign was brought to the United States in 1816 by the Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, founder of the American School for the Deaf, who later modified it to start at the chin rather than at the heart. That sign is now the standard sign for "thank you" in American Sign Language. The original sign, starting at the heart, and its original translation are less commonly known today and might now be considered "slang". For more information on American Sign Language, please see www.aslta.org."

My understanding is that many in Arab cultures (whether they be Muslim or not) do place their hands over their hearts as an indication of sincerity, respect, and an interest in direct dialogue. If this gesture is immediately followed by a handshake, it can appear to be very similar to the sign that we are using. But it is not the same.

Having said that, it is worth pointing out that the heart is generally viewed worldwide as the center for human emotion -- most often of love, compassion, and sincerity. So I'm sure that there are numerous cultures worldwide that have some gesture that is also similar to the sign that we are using. Body Language Experts will say that a hand over the heart indicates trustworthiness or honesty. Some Native American Indians would make a similar gesture to communicate a sad heart, or a heart lying on the ground. We, as Americans, place our hands on our hearts while saying the Pledge of Allegiance or during the National Anthem. With so many examples of a hand on the heart, one must look both to the full execution of the sign (the hand on the heart, followed by the lowering of the hand, pausing at the waist with the palm facing up), and the context in which the sign is used (from a civilian to a member of the Armed Forces) to understand its meaning and intent.

Having said that, while I've technically answered the question here, I feel compelled to offer a word on the implication behind the question, which seems to be that if this were a Muslim gesture we should not use it for no other reason than that it has Muslim origins. This, to me, is a perfect example of the kind of black and white, reactionary thinking that leads to our culture of Isolation and Fear, which then leads to conflict - both nationally, and internationally. Yes, there have been a few radical followers of Islam that have threatened and/or killed thousands of people worldwide. And we, as a global society, need to find a way to address that. But just as I encourage people not to apply their frustrations with the war in Iraq to the entire military, I would encourage people not to make assumptions about an entire faith based on the actions of a radical few.

The vast majority of Muslims are living in peace with other faiths -- and many are serving in the very armed forces that we are thanking with our campaign. Let's please remember that we are more alike than we are different, and not become the very bigots that we accuse radical followers of Islam to be.

No, you didn't. And to put it mildly, that is shameful to those who could not understand that it is possible to oppose the war without opposing the warrior. And that's not to point fingers and say that those who opposed the war were entirely "wrong". I am sure that many of their hearts were in the right place. But perhaps their passion and zealousness may have blinded them somewhat to the big picture of what they were doing, and the impact that they were having on those returning from an already horrific war.

I'd like to share a comment that was posted on our YouTube page in response to a comment about how Veterans of Viet Nam were treated upon their return home:

"...we (the war protestors of the Vietnam era) screwed up badly by blaming the soldiers for the atrocious politics which produced that war. What happened to [a Viet Nam Veteran] was horrible and unwarranted and repeated many times. I've felt badly about blaming the troops, not their handlers, for 40 years. I apologize, for what little it's worth now. "

It is my sincere hope that it is never too late to say, "I am so sorry for the way we treated you," and for there to be healing on both sides from that. It is my sincere hope that it is never too late to say, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your service. Welcome home." And it is my sincere hope that we who were too young at the time of the Viet Nam war to understand what was happening, or who are coming of age now, will learn from the mistakes of the past and never, ever make those mistakes again.

I appreciate this comment, and the intention behind it. And I agree that those who serve deserve more support than they are currently getting. There are already several other organizations out there lobbying for and fighting for exactly what you're talking about, and we don't want to muddy the waters or dilute their progress by adding one more organization to compete for time, attention, and resources. (For a list of organizations that support Troops and Veterans, please visit http://www.ourmilitary.mil/help.shtml.) What we do want to do is to empower people to take the critical First Step of simply engaging with and opening up to another human being who serves for them - to make a connection from one heart to another.

I applaud those who want to do more. We want to do more as well, and we are working on several initiatives to help people engage in the Second Step of taking action to support those who serve in ways that are easier and more productive without drawing attention and resources from those organizations who are already doing great work. (We hope to be rolling out those initiatives within the next year, and we will post those to our site.)

Having said that, I don't think that it is productive to create an atmosphere where a "thank you from the bottom of my heart" is deemed "not good enough". In my experience, people who are told that what they're doing isn't good enough are more likely to just not do anything than they are to be inspired to do more. How can you get people to take Step 2 if you're discouraging them from taking Step 1?

I agree that we need to do more for our military and veterans. My hope is that our campaign will empower people to express their gratitude; and having done that, to connect with those who serve for all of us, and thus be more likely to fight for them in return. I hope that makes sense.

We made our video using entirely volunteer "talent" in front of the camera. We were blessed to have some professionals behind the camera, but everyone in front was a normal civilian just like you and me, or a real member of our armed forces.

We made every effort to have representation from all five branches of the military, and to have a diversity of ethnicities, social backgrounds, and both male and female Service Personnel. We were fortunate to have representation from The National Guard, Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps. (The Marines appear in a version of our video that is licensed for use only in an NFL football stadium.) We invited members of the Navy and Coast Guard to participate as well, but as this was a volunteer effort, we were limited to working with those who happened to be available on the day that we were able to shoot at the airport.

We do appreciate the service of all of our men and women in all branches of the military, and we hope to be able to do more videos like this in the future that have full representation, so that no one appears to be forgotten or overlooked.

Yes, it is their job. Which means that they have dedicated not just a few hours per month, or even a weekend here and there to serving their fellow man, as most of us do (actually, most of us don't even do that) - they have dedicated their entire careers to it. And, I don't know about your career, but mine doesn't require me to spend weeks or months on end away from my family. It doesn't require me to miss holidays, birthdays, anniversaries... the first months or years of my child's life. My job doesn't require me to move around from post to post, away from family and friends that I want to be close to. My job doesn't require me to risk my life for people I don't even know. And my job doesn't provide people with the very Freedom to be whomever they want to be, and do whatever they want to do.

Yes, they get paid for this. But how much do you think they get paid? And however much it is, do you really think that any amount of money would be enough compensation for all of that? To the point that a simple "thank you" is too much for us to add? What is your freedom worth to you?

In our video, we say "It's not about politics." What do we mean by that? Or, as some might see it, how can we say that? Well, to put things into their simplest terms, in my observation those who believe in Peace tend to be associated with the liberal left, whereas those who support our Troops tend to be associated with the conservative right. The debates between liberal left and conservative right have become so boisterous and emotional that our society is becoming increasingly polarized. It seems at times that one side opposes an issue for no other reason than that the other side supports it. We often argue for the sake of arguing rather than for the sake of finding a solution that we can all live with. And for those who would rather that things be in their simplest terms, this has led to a dynamic where those who support Peace oppose the Troops, and those who support the Troops oppose Peace. I don't believe that this dynamic is serving us as a society. We're more concerned with being Right than we are with being Productive - and our Troops get caught in the middle.

The truth is we all benefit from the service of our Troops. Some of us benefit more directly than others, as in the case of those rescued from a mountain climbing accident, or stranded by flood waters, or suffering from starvation in drought ridden parts of the world. But even those of us who have not had to suffer these more acute problems benefit from the service of our Troops in that, in everything that they do, they serve to defend and protect our Freedoms - not the least of which is our Freedom of Speech. I would not be able to write this now were it not for those serving to defend my Freedom. And they serve in the same fashion regardless of which political party their Commander in Chief belongs to.

We'd like to encourage people to open their minds a bit - to look beyond the current conflict and political debate. Notice that there are currently 2.6 million people serving for us in some capacity, only 165,000 of which are in Iraq - that's roughly 6%. That means that 94% of our military is serving in some other place, and in some other way than fighting the war in Iraq. And even those serving in Iraq did not necessarily choose to be there. In addition, there are roughly 20 million living Veterans in the United States today who served in WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Panama, Nicaragua, Somalia, and a thousand other places over the past 75 years - all of which have made us who we are today. We can debate the finer points of each of these conflicts - we have the Freedom to do that. But at the root of it all are millions of people who have committed themselves to serving their fellow man.

So whether you're liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, Independent or Green Party, we all have a reason to be grateful to those who serve for us.

Well, that's debatable, depending on how big the picture is that you're willing to look at. I will agree that, on the surface, it doesn't appear that the war in Iraq is directly defending American Freedom. But as we say, this campaign is not about politics, and we're not here to debate the war in Iraq.

What I will say is that I would like to encourage people to remember that when someone signs up to serve in our armed forces, they take an oath to "...protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Once they take that oath, they are required by law to follow any lawful order given to them by their superiors. Thus, the "where and when" of how they defend the Constitution is not up to them - it is up to our elected officials - politicians - civilians. Those civilian politicians are elected by us - the People of the United States. They work for us. Now, you can argue about how well they're representing us or not representing us until the end of time, but it doesn't change the fact that they do work for us. So, ultimately, WE THE PEOPLE are responsible for how and where our armed forces are called to action. When we complain about the state of the world, we are ultimately complaining about our own failure to "be the change you wish to see in the world", as Gandhi put it...

I would also remind you that here in the United States we currently have roughly 2.6 million people serving for us in some capacity. Roughly 165,000 of them are in Iraq - that's around 6%; which means that 94% of our armed forces are serving in a hundred different places, and a thousand different ways than fighting the war in Iraq. If you just can't separate your feelings on the war from the people who have been ordered to fight it, perhaps you could at least thank the other 94% who defend your Freedom to voice your opposition.

This is a solemn subject that weighs very heavily on me. I want to be clear that I have never served in the armed forces. I have no personal experience with war. I have never been asked to lay my life on the line for someone else, nor bore the burden of taking another's life. Accordingly, I would never presume to tell someone who has bore these burdens how they should feel about it. Their experience is their own, as are their feelings about it, and I have no judgments about those.

For the rest of us who stand on the sidelines and debate whether to send our Troops into battle, but do not bare that burden ourselves, I would like to offer some thoughts. And, again, not having any personal experience to draw upon, I'll borrow some words from those who do. First, in response to those who oppose war at all costs I would offer these words from John Stuart Mill:

"War is an ugly thing, but it is not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares about more than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free unless made so by the exertions of better men than himself."

Mills' words, although perhaps a little more passionate than I would state it, are completely true. I believe that we, as human beings, can and will reach a point in our evolution when we learn how to live together in Peace, and that we will realize the futility of war. We are not there yet, unfortunately. And until we are, there will be times and places when we must be prepared to fight for what we believe is right. And we will need the service of those who are willing to stand up and fight for those who can't fight for themselves.

Having said that, I do believe that we have reached a stage in our evolution as human beings when it is time to recognize our own responsibility for the wars that have plagued our planet for most of our known history, and to start owning the responsibility for preventing them from happening in the future. We can no longer point the finger to other countries, other governments, other leaders, or even to our own government and blame them for the violence perpetrated in our names.

There is a theory in psychology (and in some spiritual circles) that all of our decisions and actions are motivated either by Love or by Fear. That's it - it's one of those two. If we look at what causes war and killing, it seems a given that it is more motivated by Fear than by Love. General William C. Westmoreland put it this way:

"War is Fear cloaked in Courage."

As we examine our interpersonal relationships, it is not difficult to recognize that when we come from a place of Love we feel strong, safe, confident, compassionate, abundant, and understanding. We are willing to bend, to meet the other half way, or even give entirely of ourselves in order to serve the greater good. When we come from a place of Fear we feel unsafe, needy, a sense of scarcity, defensive, and even aggressive. We are unwilling to bend on even the simplest of issues, and we are concerned only for our own well being. Fear is a natural thing, and it's not always bad - a healthy dose of Fear can keep us alert and aware of potential problems. It's when we allow the Fear to be the driver in the solutions for those problems that we become hostile and aggressive, and we allow our Fear to get the better of us. When problem solving deteriorates to violence, we have failed to deal with our Fears (and other's Fears) in a productive way. Isaac Asimov put it this way:

"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."

The critical factor in our evolution as human beings is the realization that we are all one - we are part of a collective. And the energy we bring to that collective in the form of our thoughts, opinions, and feelings has an impact on the decisions and movements of the whole. We point to our political leaders and blame them for the failures to find peaceful solutions to our international issues. But in the end, our leaders are ultimately trying to serve us - to provide us with what we are demanding through our lifestyle choices. In the end, our leaders are elected by us - they work for us - and they do what we are telling them we want. We may not be telling them verbally, but we are telling them through our lifestyle choices. And so, in the end, the Fear that we most need to deal with is our own - each and every one of us - our Fear of lack, of "not enough", of "I need more in order to be fulfilled"... our Fear of change itself. Francis Meehan put it this way:

"Men are at war with each other because each man is at war with himself."

The irony is that every war reaches a point where people have had enough killing, enough dying, enough of the futility of destruction. But we forget. We live a few years in prosperity until we are again threatened by change, and we allow our Fear to get the better of us again. What will it take to shift our focus from Fear to Love? To make the option of loving one another more palatable than killing one another? We thought that it was going to be WWI - "the war to end all wars." But it wasn't. Just a few short years later the entire world engaged in an even greater war. And there have been many since. Near the end of WWII, President Roosevelt said:

"I have a suspicion that when this war does end, we shall not be in a very celebrating mood, a very celebrating frame of mind. I think that our main emotion will be one of grim determination that this shall not happen again."

I'd like to encourage all of us to face our own Fears, and not ask others to do it for us; to embrace that grim determination that war shall not happen again; and to take personal responsibility for asking, "What can I do in my life to reduce the likelihood of wars happening in the future on my behalf" and making those changes. If we can save the planet by riding our bikes and recycling our trash, what do we need to do to prevent our deterioration to violence? Let's find out - for ourselves, for our children, and for those who serve and bare the heaviest burden. We owe them nothing less.

"The Soldier above all others prays for Peace, for it is the Soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."

-Douglas MacArthur

Absolutely, 1st Responders - Police, Fire Fighters, EMTs - all deserve our gratitude, as well. While our armed forces defend our Freedom and Safety on a global level, it is our 1st Responders who defend us on a local level. For the sake of simplicity and clarity in our short video, we have chosen to focus our attention on those who serve in our armed forces. But we expect to expand that message in the future as we diversify our campaign. In the mean time, we whole heartedly agree that 1st Responders deserve a "thank you from the bottom of my heart."

We have taken some criticism over the past couple of years for selling merchandise and advertising space on our web site, which helps us earn some income for our campaign. There are those who view this as "making money off of the service and sacrifice of others". First, let me say that I understand that reaction - largely because I used to think that way, too. My perspective has changed; and I'll tell you why:

First, any time that a campaign reaches the level of popularity that ours has, it requires an operating budget to continue to grow and spread its message. My wife and I created this campaign in our own spare time, with our own money. But as it continued to grow, it reached a point where we were going to have to make a choice between continuing to put time, energy, and money into spreading this message, or working on our jobs that brought money in and paid the bills. I didn't want to have to make that choice. In order for this campaign to continue to grow and evolve, it had to become self-sufficient.

On a side note here, it's worth noting that there seems to be a common belief in our society that those who are doing something good for mankind should not make money from it. We've all heard the phrase, "money is the root of all evil," and we seem to assign that to those who are doing something good in this world - as though good work and money are incompatible. Our teachers, clergy, and social workers struggle to survive on their limited incomes while our professional athletes, entertainers, and those in the cigarette, alcohol, and pornography industries make billions. Produce a t-shirt that says "Affliction" on it and no one has an issue with you making millions. But produce one that says "Thank You" to those who serve, and suddenly it's not ok to make money on that - any money. What does that say about what we value as a society? The truth is that the original saying is not "money is the root of all evil," but rather "the LOVE of money is the root of all evil." Wouldn't the world be a better place if those who were doing good for good's sake, and not for the love of money, were allowed to prosper as much as anyone else? Or even more so?

The ultimate goal of our campaign is to make expressing gratitude to those who serve so commonplace in our society that our campaign becomes unnecessary. We are planning for our own obsolescence. In order to reach that goal, we need to get our message out to hundreds of millions of people, and we need to send that message over and over and over. (Advertising experts currently estimate that we need to hear/see a message 7 times before we remember it. And that's just to remember it - not make it a habit!) We can only reach so many people so many times with the internet. In order to reach our goal, we need to send our message in as many different ways and as many different places as we can; including having people out there wearing t-shirts, hats, and bracelets, and putting bumper stickers on their cars.

We donate 50% of the profits from the sale of our merchandise to other charity organizations that support those who serve and their families. The other 50% of the profits goes to help us continue this campaign.

If you take nothing else from what I have to say, please consider this: the people who started this campaign, continue to work on this campaign, and spread the message of this campaign, whether through using our sign, buying and wearing a t-shirt, or by forwarding our videos on to friends and family only want to express their gratitude for the service and sacrifice of those who serve. Money is just money. It's a tool. It's a means to an end - a way to make things happen. Don't let it distract you from the message: "your service and sacrifices mean something to us, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

To be perfectly honest, it never occurred to me that people might find a way to be offended by a "gratitude campaign." But one of the big lessons in this journey for me personally has been that people will find all sorts of reasons to be offended depending on their own unique point of view and where they choose to put their focus. And it's not my intention to point a finger from my ivory tower - I have fallen victim to this myself. Early on in our campaign, I would get very upset by criticism that I thought was unreasonable or unwarranted, and I spent an inordinate amount of my time focusing on the one or two critical e-mails I received rather than on the tens, hundreds, and eventually thousands of positive e-mails I received. In the end most of the criticisms have been a blessing, as they've been an opportunity for me to get really clear about what we're doing, and why.

As I write this, we have received around 8,000 e-mails about our campaign, and around 1,100 comments on YouTube. The vast majority of them have been very supportive - probably 90% to 95%. But there have been those who have disagreed with us. And, truth be told, I have no issue with people disagreeing with us. I don't expect this campaign to resonate with absolutely everyone. And one of the greatest Freedoms we have is our Freedom to disagree with each other - hopefully peacefully. So, not only do I accept that there are those who will disagree - I celebrate it.

The part that I find fascinating and at times disheartening is what they've disagreed with, and the way in which they express their disagreement. The majority of the criticisms we've received have not been about overarching philosophical issues, but rather the surface details of the campaign: Why didn't you use the ASL sign? Why not use a salute? Why aren't there more women in uniform in the video? Why aren't there more ethnic minorities in uniform in the video? Why is it that there are black people receiving thanks in the video, but none offering any? Why does the gesture go down instead of up? You should reshoot this video with the gesture going up. Why aren't there any Navy guys in the video - they serve too, you know! This is stupid - I've never seen this before. That's gay. These are all real comments that we've received. And the list goes on...

Again, some of these are somewhat valid questions, and I have no problem answering them. The thing that concerns me for us as a society and how we're relating to one another is not the question or the comment, but the energy with which it is asked. Comments and criticisms are often times laced with very powerful, insulting, and accusatory language from the get-go, which is more often than not based on a misconception or lack of information. Often times when I explain the perfectly rational, logical reason why we did what we did, people are still so committed to their own point of view that they either continue to argue the point, or they just stop responding. On rare occasions we do get an, "Oh. That makes more sense. Thanks for clearing that up." On even rarer occasions, we actually get an apology for the accusatory tone of their original comments.

The moral of the story is this...

For some reason, our society seems to be moving in a direction of looking for reasons to be offended by others rather than looking for the good in others. I believe it was Wayne Dyer who said (and I'm paraphrasing here), "If you go out into the world looking for reasons to be offended, you won't have to look very far." If you choose instead to look for the good in people, you will find that. Physicists call this The Observer Effect - that the very act of observing something with an expected outcome produces that outcome. I encourage you to see how this plays a role in your life. Try assuming that people are generally good, and have good intentions. And just see how it changes the way you relate to them, and them to you. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. And that's not to say that it's never ok to disagree with someone. But disagreements look very different when you come from a place of assuming the best in people versus the worst. How would our relationships with our fellow Americans look if we all took this approach? How would our international relationships look? Something to think about...