Thank You!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

How often do you say “thank you” to friends and family for something they do for you?

How often do you say “thank you” to a stranger who provides a service?

How often do you say “thank you” to strangers who gesture you in front of them in a line, hold a door open for you or in other ways helps you through your day?

Recently I attended The William Glasser Institute’sConference celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of the publication of Dr. Glasser’s book Reality Therapy. At one point I visited The Embassy Suites hotel gift shop. Since writing this post was in the back of my mind, I asked the clerk in the hotel gift shop how many people said “thank you”. He gave my question serious thought and then answered “8 out of 10, I think”.

As I was checking out of my hotel, the Mardi Gras next door to The Embassy Suites, I stopped by the bar to get my water bottle filled with ice and water. I’d met the bartender, Tim, on my first day when I waited in the bar (instead of sitting in front of the slot machines) until a room was ready. He’d been very welcoming and while I did thank him at the time, I made sure to tell him again how much I appreciated his welcome.

His smile made my day! He also grabbed a card and ran across the room to hand it to me. “If you don’t mind,” he said. “TripAdvisory?” The shuttle was out front so I took the card, said “no problem” and headed out the door.

I invite you to see what happens when you say “Thank You” to the clerk at the grocery store, the person who pushes the elevator button for your floor, the person who motions you ahead of them, lets you into a line of traffic (you can mouthed the words with a big smile and wave – they’ll get the message).

Look for people to acknowledge with two very powerful words: Thank You.

Last Monday I talked about the power of a smile. You might find as I have that saying “Thank You” not only puts a smile on my face but on the face of another.

JudithAshley is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual paths that nurture the soul. The fifth book in the series, Hunter, is due out Summer 2015.

Learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series here.

Judith blogs at Romancing The Genres on the first Friday of each month.

Gratitude

I picked up a book at Costco the other day. The Magic by Rhonda Byrne caught my eye so I picked it up, put it in my cart without paying much attention to it.

Yesterday I started reading it. The premise is one of those simple but complex ideas. The more we are grateful for what we have the more of it we attract.

Why is that a complex idea? Because there are times when we search for something we're grateful for because we want it to be big and glorious - not something as mundane as 'flush toilets' as my neighbor mentioned. (Although I am Very Grateful for Flush Toilets!) It isn't important (unless your toilet is broken). Do I really want to attract more working toilets? It is easy to discount some of the basics in our lives because we take them for granted and thereby don't value them for the gifts they are - until, and that is a huge word - until they don't work.

I've started my 28 day Gratitude Program outlined in The Magic. What I first noticed is that some of the passion or commitment has gone out of my voice as I go through my familiar daily spiritual routine. I found my voice this morning and noticed a difference. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I am grateful for this one gift.

Tomorrow I'm sure there will be another one. I wonder what it will be.

What are you most grateful for? How do you show your gratitude? And how powerful are those 'magic words' we teach out children - 'please' and 'thank you'. Ask "Please" and it is given "Thank You".