Being thankful... what does that mean?
The majority of us say thanks when someone does something for us that is kind. We were all brought up to “say” thanks, but are we giving thanks? I have always been a person that says thank you literally after everything even when the other person should be thanking me. Sometimes I feel like a robot. Saying thanks and giving thanks are two totally different things I feel like.
This past year has been tough on us all, and sometimes it can be difficult to think of things you are thankful for. Countless studies show that acknowledging something you are thankful for everyday will boost happiness and decrease depression. Appreciate the little things, your life is filled with people that love you (don’t challenge me on that) so take time to appreciate them and or encounters with them. I have always been a person that will say thank you (repeating myself from before) but I have always been that person that will show a thankful action. My go to are greeting cards. I love to send them and I send them often! Not just for a birthday, or Christmas, but a simple hello or a simple thank you. The smile on the face of my loved ones when they receive them is what warms my heart, to make them happy and know I acknowledge them is what a thank you is to me. Sometimes, I don’t know how to give thanks though (not in a bad way) to the people that do above and beyond for me. My boyfriend (bless his heart for putting up with me) got me a trip to go away and when I opened the envelope I cried, as I always think I don’t deserve big gestures like that. I was so thankful which I obviously said to him, but I also made him a jar full of personalized notes on reasons I am thankful/love him. That was all the thanks he needed as it came from my heart. Sometimes we think maybe we owe someone that does something nice for us, but that is all in our heads. It is a made up scenario from the ego, so don’t let the ego win. When people do nice things for us it is because they want to, so let them and then send a card (haha).
Being thankful can really help you find peace and it makes the other person find peace as well. They always say pay it forward, as it is like a domino effect. You do it then they will do it. I recently helped a dear friend prepare lunches for our frontline workers and it was so heart warming to help, to show how thankful I am to them. I am not asking everyone to start a charity here and quit their day job, but I am asking to take a minute sit back and look at your life and everything in it! If it is not everything you want (DO NOT include material things) then set a goal for yourself to achieve it, but don’t disregard what you currently have. If you are completely stumped, make it a bit fun! Write down a few letters from the alphabet and see if you can name things you are thankful for with each letter. You will be pleasantly surprised. We all get caught up in our own life. We are programmed to get it done, look out for ourselves, make money, live in the nicest home, have the luxury car, keep up with the Jones’s. I for one don’t even like the Jones’s and have made it a point not to care deeply about any of that. I’m not saying don’t work hard, but just take sometime and make sure you are always giving or saying thanks to loved ones, strangers, and especially yourself. YOU are trying your best out here is this chaotic world so don’t forget to wake up and say thank you every morning!
I acknowledge you all and THANK YOU!
MUCH LOVE, XOXO