Giving Thanks…Let it happen naturally through Your Words.
Significant opportunities present themselves during the Thanksgiving holiday season. Are you prepared to take advantage of these opportunities and embrace all that they offer? I wonder. When I was younger, I have to admit that I missed out on some opportunities that are no longer available during the holiday. Example? Both my parents have taken residence up in heaven. From my late teens through my twenties, I neglected to build the relationships I had with them.
At the time, my perspective on life was driven by my pursuit of success at work, having fun, and putting relationships with friends ahead of family. From my early teens through the age of thirty, maturity seemed to always be on the sideline hoping to have a chance to enter the game my life was living, with me as the coach telling it “not yet.”
When I turned thirty, I became reflective of the life I had been living. It was around this time that I read the book “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. My greatest takeaway from reading that book was Viktor’s quote that said, "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
Though I wasn’t the least bit unhappy at the time, the decisions I consistently made in choosing one’s own way weren’t getting me any closer to fulfilling my dreams of being married, having children, enjoying deep relationships with others, and helping other people in whatever way I could. Following Zig Ziglar’s advice “You can get everything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want” had always been performed in the shallow end of life’s pool with little real commitment on my part.
I realized that up to that particular point in life, I had never been intentional about one of the most powerful emotions each of us possess, namely gratitude. I was helped immensely with exploring the powerful role that gratitude can play in our life when I read the book “Attitudes of Gratitude: How to Give and Receive Joy Every Day of Your Life” by M.J. Ryan in my early thirties. That book was a life-changer for me in that it helped me see every area of my life from the perspective of gratitude. It helped me call maturity off the bench I had it sitting on and put it in the game as my leader on offense.
Most of us abuse the gift of comparing ourselves to others because we always compare ourselves to those that have what we don’t. A bigger house, a newer vehicle, a luxurious vacation, and a seemingly endless flow of money with social media emphasizing what appears to be a perfect life. The words “There’s no value in comparing yourself to others” have left my lips in spurts of frustration attempting to turn people away from abusing the gift of comparison. But I’ve learned that there’s real power in comparing ourselves when performed from a perspective of gratitude. When our perspective is based on what we have rather than what we don’t have, in every area of our life, we can achieve the inner peace that we all crave.
The power of gratitude had entered my life, but I needed to figure out how to maximize its impact. This is where I connected gratitude to giving thanks. Pause for a moment and consider the simplicity of giving thanks. If you woke up in a bed, inside a space either cooled by A/C or warmed by a furnace, give thanks. If you had the option of a bathroom and shower to begin your day, give thanks. If you had food available to consume, give thanks. If you find yourself surrounded by people you love who love you back, give thanks. This is the first step towards a more fulfilling life.
The next giant step forward occurs when you learn how to sincerely verbalize your gratitude when giving thanks. If you believe in God, and I hope you do, you can use words to offer heartfelt thanks for every area of your life and for God’s love for you to begin your day. As you encounter loved ones, verbally thanking them for the role they play in your life can immediately boost both their day and your day. Your words might include “Thanks for making breakfast,” “Thanks for doing the dishes,” “Thank you for filling my vehicle with gas yesterday,” or even “Thanks for listening to me rant about my problems.”
Your attitude will be enhanced when you carry your thanks with you when you’re at work and in every public space you find yourself. You simply feel better about yourself when you’re giving thanks to others. “Thanks for always treating our customers with kindness, even when it’s hard,” “Thanks for filling my cup with coffee again,” “Thanks for always keeping your restrooms clean,” or “Thanks for helping me find what I was looking for.”
Many of us might be thinking about words of thanks, but the real power of gratitude is experienced when we verbalize and actually say the words. I’m grateful that, in “choosing one’s own way” as Frankl taught, I discovered this in time to build the relationship I had with my parents to the deepest form of love. Through practice, I learned how to utilize words effectively in expressing gratitude and thanks to my loved ones, my friends, and all others I engage with. Fact is, ANY time we use words to give thanks to another person, a win/win is instantly created that enhances both lives.
You can’t buy that in stores nor on the internet. It’s totally free and ready to be used every minute you’re awake. As you enter this Thanksgiving holiday, you’ll discover you’re surrounded by opportunities to use words of thanks. Use words of thanks more than you’ve ever used them before and watch how deeply your love of life will grow. GiddyUp and Happy Thanksgiving!