Positivity: Thank You

Thank you.

These two words are amongst the most powerful words in all of the English language. The power of thank you to make a person feel good, to convey gratitude is nearly immeasurable.

Yet these two words are not employed with near enough frequency. Society has become so hyper-focused on big bad things around the globe that feeling thankful is challenging at best. Yet it is important to not lose sight of the little things we have, and remember gratitude.

Words, words words.   If there is no sincerity and no feeling behind thank you it’s pretty useless. While there is some truth to that, getting into the habit of expressing thanks for small things will actually generate feelings of thankfulness for these things. It is very hard to keep repeating thank you and not begin to actually feel gratitude. Try it.

The little things in life to be thankful for are numerous, material and immaterial. Be thankful for your health, your friends, your family, your job, your hobbies, love, waking up every morning to a day with new potential. Say thank you for your car, your computer, your smartphone, the clothes on your back, a cup of coffee, food on your table, sunlight, rain…anything and everything you encounter during your day.

Thank you. The foundation of gratitude. Two words that can change your feelings surprisingly quickly. Two words every child is taught very early in life, but we adults tend somehow to take for granted. The number of things for us to express our thanks for are beyond count, and yet we take them for granted, and we do not frequently say thank you for them.

How can I possibly say thank you when I am feeling depressed? How can I express gratitude when I read the news and am bombarded with all the awful things happening in the world today? I cannot feel it, so how can I express it?

Start small. Say thank you for the ability to read, to hear, to think, to see, to smell, to taste, to touch. Say thank you for the device you are reading these words upon now. Say thank you for being alive. Say thank you for your own health, safety and welfare. Say thank you for the possibility that today is full of potential. Say thank you for the safety of those you love. Say thank you for the knowledge of gratitude and its power to better life.

Small steps. But from these minor points the potential to generate positivity is truly astounding.

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that saying thank you is the most powerful key to creating gratitude, we can employ it more readily and frequently. When we give thanks for the little things we have, material and immaterial, we begin to feel thankful, which in turn will dissolve negative feelings. When we take away negative feelings, we open up space to let in positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for. Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. Positive attitude begets positive energy, and that is always a good thing.

This is the forty sixth entry of my Positivity series.  It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone.  Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.