THE POWER OF 'THANK YOU'

By Amanda Pada

Image by DreamDigitalArtist from Pixabay

In recent times, it is so easy to complain all day. I mean look at how crazy things are. It’s actually really discouraging and it almost looks like we are done for in this country. I’m sure that many of us have a mental list of complaints about the Government, our families, and maybe even ourselves. We are always prepared with facts and news about complaints whenever someone brings one of them up. We can spend many precious minutes and maybe even hours discussing these things that we wish could change.

What I would like to know, however, is how many of us keep a list, mentally or physically, of things, situations, people, and events that we are grateful for? How many of us can look past all the hardship and strife and locate that one thing that we can be truly thankful for?

Many people underestimate the power of gratitude. They have no idea how saying 'Thank you' can change their mentality and their lives. It may seem like I’m exaggerating, but I’m stressing about this because I have experienced the power of saying “thank you” firsthand. Saying 'thank you' for the little good things that happened in bad situations actually makes a person realize that there is a lot of good out there and things aren’t as gloomy as they seem.

Image by Avi Chomotovski from Pixabay

Sure, things are quite intense but you’re alive, you have a phone to read this, some people care about you whether you choose to acknowledge them or not, you can read, you can hear, you can feel. There is so much to be grateful for.

Although, I must advise that in your attempts at gratitude, you should never compare your situation with anyone else’s. If your gratitude stems from feeling good about doing better than others, from pride, your joy won’t last that long because pride tends to fail us at times. Let your gratitude and joy be genuine and from within.

Let’s end this with a little task. Before you go to bed tonight, write down five things, five people, five events, five places, from the past, present, or future, that you are truly thankful for. If you ever feel despondent, look at your list. If you ever feel happy, add your joy to your list. You can also install some gratitude applications to aid you on your path to joy and thankfulness.