I am thankful for so many things in my life. I am thankful for so many things on a day-to-day basis. I am thankful when someone gives me a gift, hug, or kind words. I am thankful for so many people in my life, they mean so much to me.
But I am very bad at saying thank you (or even thanks).
I am not sure why this is. I don’t think of myself as an unthankful person. I try to be a positive person in most things in life as well. But recently I have found myself asking myself, “Did I thank that person for xyz?” And when I think I haven’t I tell myself that I will need to do that when I see them next time, and then I don’t.
So, then I started reflecting on me saying thank you and I started to really wonder if I use those words very often, and I concluded that I don’t think I do. I have wondered why this is. I certainly grew up in a family where I was taken care of and so should have been thankful for that. I am thankful for my family, but I am not sure I said it much growing up. Maybe I did, and I just don’t remember, but I have my doubts now. I had a good school experience (from what I remember) from K-12 and so I should have been thankful to all those teachers. And I am, but I am not sure I ever told them thank you. The same has continued into my adult life. I have had a relatively great life. Many people have done many things for me. And I am thankful for all those things, but I am sure I haven’t said thank you for many of them.
I think it may come down to being “busy” in my mind. I feel that I am always moving on to the next thing and so I never spent the time to say thank you. That is an issue. I need to work on it. I am trying to work on it. I have been trying to say thank you right away. And those times when I am thinking that I didn’t say thank you I am trying to email that person right away if I can. Or I try my best to say thank you right away the next time I see them. It will take time and work, but I want people to know I am thankful for whatever they have done for me. I don’t want people that I interact with to wonder if I am thankful for whatever they have done. I am thankful, but just because I know it doesn’t mean that the other person knows it. And I need to fix that.
I do say thank you to God every day. I say it in prayer, but I also just say it throughout the day as I am doing different things. But I do say thank you. I thank Him for my family, waking up, getting a green light when I am biking or driving, when my daughter reads well, at meals, and more. I wonder why I say thank you to God with no issues, but to people I just don’t say it. I think I find it easier. I don’t have the same interaction with others that when saying thanks compared to when I thank God. It is weird.
So, to everyone out there reading this – thank you! Thank you for taking the time to read it. Thank you for anything you may have given to me in the past. Thank you for the kindness you have shown me. Thank you for the words you have shared with me. Thank you for being a friend, or teacher, or co-worker, or brother or parent, or in-law, or anything else to me. I have been blessed in one way or another by you all and for that I say THANK YOU!