Thankfulness Personified
What is thankfulness? How is it achieved? Why is it important? — A brief excerpt to encourage others the importance of thankful expressions geared towards the creation of positive atmospheres.
By the time you read this, it will be the day before Thanksgiving. A holiday where most in America celebrate a time in history, but more importantly, celebrate time with each other. It’s a holiday that I personally like the principle of more than its “meaning”.
According to Thesaurus.com, a few synonyms that describe the word thankful include: gratified, indebted and grateful. Each of these words, including thankful, have meanings of appreciation derived from the action/service of another person or thing. Two key things that are required in order to experience thankfulness is an act of service and an external or internal being. The point I’m making is that thankfulness is not simply a random phenomenon that occurs, it’s something that is earned at the expense of something else.
In life, we are faced with many challenges. Challenges that hinder us and challenges that develop us. In one way or another, we’ve experienced that fruit of support or the service of another person that has helped us overcome those challenges.
Being thankful is the recognition of that.
As believers we are called to serve and love one another. (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39; Galatians 5:13, etc.) Additionally, on the receiving end of that, it is important to express gratitude and thankfulness for those things. Not simply to honor the other party, but recognize humility. If we lived this life with no thanks, we would become prideful and selfish. Unable to see past our short-comings and taking life for granted. From major sacrifices made by others to that one nice person who held the door for us to enter, we have all been on the receiving end of thankful opportunities. As this year reaches a close, my encouragement to you is to personify the word thankful from others and even yourself in reflection of your tremendous journey thus far. And as you do that, create a plan to do the same for others.
This is important because the expression of gratitude opens doors in people and in life. Internally, it exposes you to humility which in turn allows you the freedom to grow. Externally, it encourages the continuation of service acts and love. By stimulating the sources positive action, you are creating more atmospheres of contentment and consistent development among others…A domino effect initiated by a service, pushed by gratitude and the potential to create a major impact – simply one thank you at a time.
Try to reflect this Thanksgiving – As you walk through rooms full of people who’ve played roles in many areas of your life. Try to imagine how pivotal that role was in creating the person that you are today. If you can, thank them for that, then try to be that person for someone else.
Starting points:
-Pay for the meal of the person behind you
-Take the trash out for a neighbor
-Open the door for the aged/young
-Share an encouraging message
Thankfulness Personification:
-If something was given to you: take a picture and send a thank you
-Write a handwritten thank you note
-Explain the context (if comfortable) of how and why you’re thankful for something from someone
-Publicly shout-out the individual that you’re thankful for
These are my challenges to you as we close out the year 2023. Life is simple. It’s often ourselves who complicate it but above all, it was never meant to be done alone. So, in a world full of darkness, let’s continue to do our part as humans to spread the light unconditionally.
