I have met hundreds of you on conferences and user groups, and talked to even more online, the community is what makes PHP so awesome, thank you for always being there for everyone, and for spending your free time and energy on Open Source software and building our community. 

Speaking of thank you’s. Thanksgiving is an american tradition that I always thought had a good meaning. Expressing what and who you are thankful for is so very important, but why should we do it only one day of the year?

In mid 2015 I set out a noble goal, I decided to thank someone that I appreciate every single day, and give them well deserved compliments along with it. Often I thanked friends for being who they are and for listening to me, but sometimes I went deeper. I searched for e-mail addresses and honestly felt a bit like a stalker, to thank people in the community for their hard work and it was all worth it.

The replies that I got really did surprise me, when people replied that I made their day, it made my day. I put nearly no effort into it and simply said what I was feeling in my heart. What surprised me was that most people felt surprised by my e-mails and messages, because not nearly enough people ever thank them. I think that is sad, especially when I was thanking big contributors of open source projects. Surely, it should be normal to thank them for their hard work they do? Apparently not.

Maybe it’s time for the community to try out my gratitude hobby for a while, make it a daily habit in the new year to come, and experience the gratification of gratitude, because if such a small thing can make someones day, why wouldn’t you do it?