The Power of A ‘Thank You’

The Power of A ‘Thank You’

A Small Gesture Can Have A Great Impact 

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It’s one of the words which we much use, but rather very casually. Or when we say it, we don’t mean it at all. Yet, this simple phrase can touch the very heartstrings of a person if conveyed with genuineness. 

How many times have you thanked someone genuinely? If you are such a person who can thank everyone and anyone genuinely, you are a rare person, I must say. As easy a phrase this is, even so rare to find a genuine one. Very few people say a ‘Thank you’ and mean it. Usually, we throw this word so casually that it has lost all its impact and has just become a way of expressing formality. Why it’s so hard to say a thank you and mean it? If we don’t mean what we say, that amounts to deception, isn’t it? 

Now, a question: why even say ‘Thank you’? What’s the need? 

 A Way of Expressing Gratitude

Whenever someone does something for us, we should reciprocate. And the simplest and most gentle way to do that is to say a heartfelt ‘Thank you’. It shows that we are expressing our gratitude. But, I see, gratitude is something that is very rare in us. It’s a rare commodity. Very few people actually live with gratitude. 

Only when we feel grateful, we say thank you. But, as I said, most people don’t have any sense of gratitude in their hearts. So, most people don’t even bother to say a small thank you. Yet, if we introspect, we would see, there are so many people doing so many things for us, both directly and indirectly. In fact, we can’t even live by ourselves without others’ help. 

A heart that is devoid of gratitude, is a poor heart, worthy of pity. Such people will never know the blessing of life. 

My Experiments With Thank You

I have sometimes intentionally thanked people to see how it feels and how the other person feels. They are people like a taxi driver, tea sellers, a restaurant waiter or a shopkeeper. Usually, we don’t thank them. Because we think, they are after all serving us. We pay, they serve—what’s the need to be grateful‽ For example, I once thanked a taxi driver. So many people get on and get off taxis every day. I wonder how many people say a ‘Thank you’! They are serving us, we think. But, in times of need or emergency, without them, we are helpless. Don’t they deserve a small thank you even? Just think for a moment. Nobody appreciates their work. If unexpectedly you say a thank you to a taxi driver, wouldn’t he feel happy? 

The roadside vendors, stall-owners, the paperboy, the milkman, the maid in our house, the gardener, the gatekeeper, the night guard…these are people whom we don’t even notice that they exist, let alone say a ‘Thank you’ to them! But, try it sometime. Go and say a thank you to them. It’ll mean much to them. 

Do you have any such experience when you genuinely thanked somebody and he/she lit up with a smile? Share in the comments. 

What Can A ‘Thank You’ do? 

The least it does is you learn to value and appreciate other people and learn to recognise their contribution. The best it does is you develop a great virtue in life: gratitude! When you learn to be grateful, your sense of ego dissolves very quickly, and that is a sure way of progressing in your spiritual evolution. 

And not only that, gratitude fills our life with happiness. This has been proved and established now: that a grateful life is a happy life. There are many reasons to it. One is, when we learn to be grateful, we learn to appreciate life. Only when we learn to appreciate life, do we become eligible to see the beauty and richness of life. 

And ultimately, a heart that has learnt to be grateful, has become mature spiritually. 

Last Words

Thank you is a small word of appreciation. But its effect is not small. If you can imagine yourself in others’ place, you’d realise how much uplifting it is to receive a genuine word of appreciation. You must have felt this some time or other when someone genuinely thanked you. How did you feel? 

A small gesture, if expressed genuinely, can uplift a man in an instant. Learn to say ‘Thank you’ genuinely, not only out of courtesy or formality. Next time someone does something for you, and I’m sure it’ll happen soon, hold yourself for a second, and gently, say this magical word: Thank you! 

And see the beauty of the moment unfolding. 

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And with this note, I thank you for reading! 🙂

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