Merci, Gracias, Danke. There are a multitude of ways to express our gratitude and thankfulness Tweet This! – in French it’s ‘Merci,’ in Spanish, the word is ‘Gracias’ and in German, ‘Danke.’
In American English, our word is ‘Thanks,’ or in a more formal setting, ‘Thank you.’ But, do we really use the word as seriously and as often as we should and could?
Perhaps it’s fair to say that for every time we express our gratitude to someone, there are likely to be a hundred or more times in which our gratitude for what someone did or said goes unexpressed. Tweet This! If I were to reduce the reasons down to one of why we ‘let the moment pass’ for expressing our appreciation to someone, it would have to be ‘…we’ve become a nation in a hurry,’ and we’ve come to feel uncomfortable establishing meaningful relationships; social media is subtly teaching us to reduce what once would require a five-minute expression of gratitude down to a two-sentence summary of how we feel.
‘Tis the Season for Thankfulness. Tweet This!
This is the season we call ‘Thanksgiving.’ It’s been an official holiday since 1863, although the origin of this special day goes back to 1621, when the pilgrims gathered in Plymouth, Massachusetts to celebrate an abundant harvest. Today, we’ve evolved into ‘giving thanks for what we have,’ as relatives and friends gather around the table to eat the food they purchased at the supermarket. We’re also not ‘gathering around the table and giving thanks to our God, we’re finding a place to stand or sit that allows us to hold our paper plate full of food because we want to watch every play of every football game on television. When the day of Thanksgiving ends, how many of us seek out the few people who prepared the meal and genuinely said a sincere “thank you for making this day so meaningful?”
In the world of AdvoCare, where we often gather for special training or other celebratory events, there are invariably a very small handful of people who spent considerable time preparing the room at the venue, hauling in equipment and such amenities as balloons, projection equipment, pictures and other materials that make the environment of the meeting festive. When the event ends, how many of us seek out those who invested so much of themselves in making the event a memorable moment, and expressing – once again – gratitude and appreciation?
Encouragement.
We cannot and must not slowly evolve into a nation of people too wrapped up in themselves to the extent that they ignore the chance to make new friendships, solidify and strengthen relationships, and to pause for a few moments to give hope and encouragement Tweet This! to those who are still groping for a measure of results as a reward for their many actions.
Each of us need all of us, just as all of us need each of us; if we ever become too busy to uplift others by taking sufficient time to build one another up, then the magic that prevailed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and that gave us liberties, independence and freedoms will have been lost.
How will you express your thankfulness during this joyous season? Tweet This!Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays to all!
