Two words which should be very easy to say. We say it to the guy at the cashier after getting our change. We say it to someone who picked up the pen we dropped in the hallway. We say it at the end of our emails. We say it to the friend who lent us some money, or gave us a piece of their french fries.
We say "thank you" when someone did something for us that made us feel good. Makes me wonder. How often do we say it to the people who have always been there for us?
How often do we say "thank you" to our parents, for the little and big things they have done for us? For bringing us to this life? For taking care of us in the years we can barely take care of ourselves? For sending us to school, for having wished nothing but the best for us? For working long years to be able to provide what we need, and for many of us, even when we should have been able to provide for ourselves? For reminding us to take our vitamins, to look before crossing the street? For waking us up when the alarm clock didn't?
How often do we say "thank you" to our friends, just for being there? For sharing their stories and allowing us to share ours? For laughing at the jokes that we tried so hard to conjure? For listening to our stories no matter how dramatic or cheesy they were? For helping us remember the next line of the song that kept us up last night? For keeping you company because it's lonely to sit out there alone in the coffee shop?
Most importantly, how often do we say "thank you" to God, for allowing us to experience this life? For nature, for the air we breath, the trees, the sun, the moon, the stars? For the stranger who smiled at you in the elevator? For waking up to another day? For the money you surprisingly found in your pants' back pocket? For the bright idea that impressed your boss? For the chance encounter with a long-lost friend whom you just thought about the other day? For the safe commute to and from work? For the opportunities you encounter to get you closer to your dream house/job/partner? For the "problems" you experience that makes you stop what you're doing to assess yourself and how to best handle it? For the person who made it difficult for you so you can recognize your own strength? Most importantly, how often do we say "thank you" to God for giving us free will, to be able to make choices in terms of what we feel "called" to fulfill in this life, and to focus our thoughts, words, and actions upon?
I admit I am guilty for not being able to have my gratitude moments as often as I would like to. Nevertheless, I as much as possible spend a few minutes at night before going to bed saying a gratitude prayer at least for everything I have experienced in the day. Random things, small thingss, big things.
An attitude of gratitude is one of the most powerful tools to combat negativity in your life. When you are thankful for something, you feel joy. You feel abundant. You feel humbled yet blessed that you were given the chance to experience what it is you feel thankful for. You see the goodness in life, in things and in the people you meet. It makes you feel too good that the next logical thing to do is to CAUSE others to feel good.
I would strongly recommend that you spend some time everyday to say your prayer of gratitude. Even two minutes a day is not too much to set aside. Or even say your gratitude prayer at random times in the day. Like when you're driving or on the bus or cab, or even in the bathroom! Just any moment when you have time to say a prayer in your mind.
Also, express gratitude for things that didn't make you feel good. Remember, your thoughts created those experiences for you! You will be surprised at how it changes the way you feel about that thing or person or situation simply by shifting your perspective of it.
Expressing gratitude brings you joy and inner peace, the knowing that BEFORE YOU EVEN ASK, IT IS ALREADY GIVEN (I just love saying this!).
In saying all that, allow me then to say THANK YOU -- to my parents, family, friends for everything you have been to me. And thank you, God, for this opportunity to share the lesson of gratitude to the world!
“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”
– Meister Eckhart
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