Have a basket full of thanks to begin a day and empty it before we say good night
and sleep. The art of saying thanks gets us in par with a group of people who live
their life with an attitude of gratitude. Search our soul and we will find a million
and more reasons to say thank you.
We live dissatisfied with a feeling that we have fallen short of something, which
some other person is possessing. In fact we live a life drawn out of comparisons,
and we most often compare ourselves with something or someone better than
us. The comparison often yields us experience, knowledge and emotions which
are never going to scale up our happiness, but what it yields is, dejection. We are
envious for sure, believing in the art of counting another person’s blessings rather
than our own. We seldom realise the great treasures we are showered with and
seldom do we compare ourselves with our unfortunate ones. This Persian quote is
awakening “I had the blues, that I did not have shoes, until upon the street, when
I met a man without feet.” Makes one terribly moved, is it not? Then it’s time for
a paradigm shift. Everyone needs to wear the mystical crown of contentment to
oust the dejection in our minds. However, remember, to be content does not
mean we don’t desire more, it means that we are thankful for what we have and
patient for what is to come.
Let there be more and more of thanks giving in our prayers. Remember, prayers
may not change God, but it changes him, who prays. Thanks giving are just not
through prayers alone. If we cannot love the people whom we see, then how can
we love God, whom we cannot see? Yes, let our fellow humans experience the
grace of our gratitude.
A word of thanks to the billing person who has just billed and packed our items
after our super shopping at the neighbourhood mall; A smile with thanks to the
policeman who stops the vehicles, to help us cross the road on a day of heavy
moving traffic; A polite thank you to a counter receptionist for giving us
information on a matter of value; A motivating thanks for the auto/taxi driver
who has taken us to our desired destination on time; A heartfelt thank you for the
customer who has just come to add more to our business; A thank you with joy
for the waiter of the restaurant who has just served us with the dish of our
delight. So, let us keep on emptying our basket of thanks.
Let there always be an easy fall of the word Thank you from the tip of one’s
tongue. Let the echo of a kind word like Thank you, one has uttered, resonate in
the heart of another. Our co-beings require our heartfelt thanks in this co-creative
environment. Our thanks make ourselves, as well as others better. Good to serve
and best to taste is Thank you.
The word THANK YOU
Builds Trust among humans
Spreads Happiness in the heart
Fosters better Appreciation of the other
It is a powering Nutrient for the mind
Gives a feel good feeling called Kindness
It’s really Yummy to hear
Fetches a lot of Oppo (friends)
And makes one really Un Selfish
Story
A little blind boy sat quietly on the steps of a busy street. At his feet lay an old hat,
with only a few coins rattling inside. Beside him, a cardboard sign read: “I am
blind, please help me.”
People passed by in a hurry. Some glanced; a few dropped a coin, but most
walked on without a second thought.
Late in the morning, a man stopped. He looked at the boy, then at the sign.
Without a word, he placed a few coins in the hat. Then he picked up the sign,
turned it over, and wrote something new. Placing it back where it could be seen,
he quietly walked away.
As the day went on, something changed. The sound of coins clinking in the hat
grew louder and more frequent. Passers-by who had once walked indifferently
now stopped, reached into their pockets, and gave. By afternoon, the little boy’s
hat was almost full.
Hearing familiar footsteps approach, the boy asked softly, “Sir, were you the one
who changed my sign? What did you write?”
The man smiled and replied, “I only wrote the truth — the same truth you told,
but in a different way.”
The boy tilted his head, curious. The man continued, “Your sign said: I am blind.
Mine said: Today is a beautiful day, but I cannot see it.”
Both signs spoke of blindness. But the first asked only for sympathy. The second
stirred gratitude in the hearts of those who read it. It reminded them of the gift of
sight they so often took for granted.
And that made all the difference.
The story leaves us with a quiet lesson: sometimes a change of perspective not
only opens people’s eyes to another’s pain, but reminded people to be thankful
for what they have.
Activity
1. Write down five common occasions in life, where you decide to thank people
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2. Write down five fortunes in your life for which you want to express your
gratitude to God.
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Quote
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
—Mother Teresa
Take Away
1. Let us begin our day with a whole basket full of thanks, but let us not forget to
empty it, before we go to sleep.
2. Practice the art of thanks giving and it becomes a habit well settled in our
subconscious mind.