How do you say thank you? What’s so special about showing appreciation? Can you build gratitude like any other skill?

You’ve probably heard the old saying ‘a little goes a long way’. When it comes to the pleasure of saying thank you, it really rings true.

We often take it for granted, but when it’s lacking, its absence rings with the sound of one hand clapping. Often perfunctory, part and parcel of being polite, and drilled into us at every turn as children, the practice of giving good gratitude is often misunderstood.

You’ve probably had the experience of doing something kind for someone out of the goodness of your heart, only way to have it fall flat with a thud of entitlement from the other side.

If you’ve ever suffered the misfortune of dealing with a real ingrate, you know how thin and tedious it gets in a hurry. So it’s worth putting a little thought into the idea of not being ‘that person’.

There’s a huge difference between a bland automatic ’thanks’ and a true token of gratitude. The former is like a rubber stamp or a fake smile, the latter is a thoughtful expression of connection.

How can you tell? You know it when you feel it. When someone thanks you in a way that lands home in your heart, there’s a feeling that goes deeper than the surface.

It can be as simple as eye contact and an authentic tone of voice. The way a specific detail or feeling was mentioned. The basic fact that the reply was thoughtful. It’s an easy way to make someone’s day.

In my experience, ingrates have bad luck. They may have every advantage handed to them on a silver platter, yet no matter the blessings and abundance they somehow ignore, they always find a reason to complain.

So it stands to reason that the opposite holds true as well. The yellow brick road to good fortune is paved with gratitude. Proactively practicing the art of ‘good thanks’ leads to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

My younger daughter set a great example the other day. We’ve helped her with innumerable logistics and unknowns this past year as she transitions from high school to higher education.

She’s taken on a gap year doing a French language intensive in Bordeaux. She’s been settled in for about a month now, and at the end of a call the other day she was gushing with gratitude.

It landed well with us, and as fate and the state of the planet would have it, she’s bugging out of Bordeaux due to the smoke and will be with us here in Sarthe for the week to catch up in person.

Giving good thanks is like making a deposit into your karmic bank account, especially when you make it a habit to stay one step ahead. It’s a little dance you can do that always pays interest.

Merci et à bientôt!

M+

ML #690

Mark Metz
Monday Love Movement Calendar