Saying Thank You

Someone asked me the other day, “what is something you wish people would say to you more?” I didn’t really have an answer for this. It is a question that has never really crossed my mind. I have, however, thought about something that I should say more often: thank you.

I am from the south. It is how we were raised. You say please. You say thank you. You show respect. I’m learning that even though I was taught these things, I may have initially missed the point of why we do them. We don’t say thank you only because we have been taught to. We say thank you as a way to be and stay grateful.

What does it mean to be grateful? To be grateful means you have a sincere feeling of appreciation. You are genuinely touched at the act or service of another.

How long has it been since you felt that way? Tell the truth. We live in a very fast paced, very entitled world. We expect good service, so we don’t think to say thank you when we receive it. We expect for things to be done right, so it doesn’t cross our mind to say thank you when they are. We transact business daily with so many people and do not look them in the eye and show them sincere gratitude. This has to change.

For a while now I have tried my best to say thank you several times a day to many different people. It catches many by surprise, including my bride. I told her thank you the other day for doing my laundry. She asked me why I was saying thank you. I looked deep in her eyes and said, “because I appreciate what you do.” And I do. I needed to say it to her as much as she needed to hear it from me.

I even try to practice this at work. I got some confirmation the other day that my coworkers are noticing my habit. I was walking out of a coworker’s office. She stopped me and told me thank you. I asked her for what. She said for two reasons. First she appreciates they way I help her at work. I told her it was my pleasure. The second reason? She told me she has seen how I go out of my way to show gratitude say thank you and she really appreciates it and wants to do more of it herself. That caught me off guard in a very good way.

We have so much to be thankful and grateful for. I challenge you and me both to go out of the way to show that gratitude to someone today. It will brighten their day. It will also keep you focused on the good things in yours.

Thank you so much for reading this. I appreciate you.