The Power of a Thank You

Thank you. I believe it is the most emotive sentence in our language. When I was a child, it was drilled into me by my parents to say please and thank you all the time. And not just say thank you but actually mean it.

What my parents achieved was an adult who learnt how to be thankful.

Having a thankful heart means that you never demand. You appreciate and value people’s intentions and have a character that doesn’t take things for granted.
As I look around me I see many people don’t live a life with an attitude of thankfulness. They believe that society and governments owe them, they believe their rights are more important than anyone else and it is all about me.

Maybe I am old fashioned but I believe it is not about me but it is about we.

How do you feel when someone genuinely thanks you? You feel special, valued and helpful. It actually doesn’t take much effort to have a heart of thankfulness. It is an attitude that says what you did was important and valuable to me and I really appreciate it. And it’s not hard to do. It is actually just using those words with meaning. It’s not a grunt of acknowledgement but it is genuine about what some one just did for you.

And it becomes a game changer. By simply having an attitude of thankfulness you begin to affect and influence people you come in contact with. The shop assistant, the footy coach, teachers, the next door neighbour even family members. They all start to feel good and valued. They in turn go on to influence and affect other people all because you made them feel good about themselves.

Who would have thought two simple words used in context, could change society for good.

Thank you.

Billy Diehm

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