“HOW can I say thanks for all the things you have done for me,” so goes a line of a very popular Christian song.
William A. Ward has another way of saying it: “God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say, ‘Thank you?’”
“Doctor,” a lady asked her physician, “why am I seized with these restless longings for the glamorous and faraway?”
“My dear lady,” the doctor replied, “they are the usual symptoms of too much comfort in the home and too much ingratitude in the heart.”
Is it really hard to say, “Thank you”? Sarah Ban Breathnach told us: “Every time we remember to say ‘thank you,’ we experience nothing less than heaven on earth.” William Blake said it best: “Gratitude is heaven itself.”
Johannes A. Gaertner reveals: “To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch heaven.”
Throughout history wise men and women have encouraged us to feel grateful for what we have. Why? Dr. Richard Carlson replies: “Very simply because gratitude makes us feel good. When you’re feeling grateful, your mind is clear, and therefore you have access to your greatest wisdom and common sense. You see the big picture.”
Some great men and women have penned reasons why we need to give thanks. Melody Beattie states: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Albert Einstein reasons out: “A hundred times a day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the full measure I have received and am still receiving.”
Gratitude, according to William Faulkner, “is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”
Benjamin Franklin believes that “most people return small favors, acknowledge medium ones and repay greater ones – with in gratitude.”
John Henry Jowett agrees: “Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.”
M.J. Ryan thinks gratitude makes a person feel bursting with delight by just remembering the gifts he has received. “Thus we are doubly blessed when we receive something–for the gift itself and later, in recall, for the miracle of having been given it,” he explains.
Albert Schweitzer has another idea: “To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.”
Brian Tracy advocates: “Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”
Some people equate thanksgiving with other things. Hollywood singer and actress Doris says, “Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.” In other words, if you are a lady who keeps on complaining then you know what kind of person you are.
A few people in this world thrive on revenge. But the words of Edward Gibbon come in handy: “Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.”
Give thanks always – even if what you might have received are small things. Allow me to share the story of Retired Brigadier General Robinson Risner, which Zig Ziglar recounted in his book, ‘Something to Smile About.”
Risner was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for more than seven years. “He was in solitary confinement for five of those years,” Ziglar notes. “He suffered from cold, heat, malnutrition, and lack of fresh air. He was totally deprived of any human comfort.”
In those years of confinement, what he did were the following: “He jogged in his cell by the hour. When he became so frustrated he had to scream, he stuffed his underwear into his mouth to muffle the scream. He would not give his captors the satisfaction of knowing his frustration.”
Then one day, something happened: “In the depths of despair, General Risner lay down on the floor and looked all around his small rectangular-shaped cell,” Ziglar notes. “He put his eye next to the cinder blocks, hoping that there would be a crack in one of them. Fortunately, there was a minute opening and he saw a single leaf. Later, he stated that seeing that evidence of life outside was a tremendously uplifting and life-changing event.”
Look around you. I am sure you will find that there are so many things you have to be thankful for. Ralph Marson reminded: “What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it– would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have.”
Thank you.
For comments, write me at henrytacio@gmail.com
William A. Ward has another way of saying it: “God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say, ‘Thank you?’”
“Doctor,” a lady asked her physician, “why am I seized with these restless longings for the glamorous and faraway?”
“My dear lady,” the doctor replied, “they are the usual symptoms of too much comfort in the home and too much ingratitude in the heart.”
Is it really hard to say, “Thank you”? Sarah Ban Breathnach told us: “Every time we remember to say ‘thank you,’ we experience nothing less than heaven on earth.” William Blake said it best: “Gratitude is heaven itself.”
Johannes A. Gaertner reveals: “To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch heaven.”
Throughout history wise men and women have encouraged us to feel grateful for what we have. Why? Dr. Richard Carlson replies: “Very simply because gratitude makes us feel good. When you’re feeling grateful, your mind is clear, and therefore you have access to your greatest wisdom and common sense. You see the big picture.”
Some great men and women have penned reasons why we need to give thanks. Melody Beattie states: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Albert Einstein reasons out: “A hundred times a day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the full measure I have received and am still receiving.”
Gratitude, according to William Faulkner, “is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”
Benjamin Franklin believes that “most people return small favors, acknowledge medium ones and repay greater ones – with in gratitude.”
John Henry Jowett agrees: “Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.”
M.J. Ryan thinks gratitude makes a person feel bursting with delight by just remembering the gifts he has received. “Thus we are doubly blessed when we receive something–for the gift itself and later, in recall, for the miracle of having been given it,” he explains.
Albert Schweitzer has another idea: “To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.”
Brian Tracy advocates: “Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”
Some people equate thanksgiving with other things. Hollywood singer and actress Doris says, “Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.” In other words, if you are a lady who keeps on complaining then you know what kind of person you are.
A few people in this world thrive on revenge. But the words of Edward Gibbon come in handy: “Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.”
Give thanks always – even if what you might have received are small things. Allow me to share the story of Retired Brigadier General Robinson Risner, which Zig Ziglar recounted in his book, ‘Something to Smile About.”
Risner was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for more than seven years. “He was in solitary confinement for five of those years,” Ziglar notes. “He suffered from cold, heat, malnutrition, and lack of fresh air. He was totally deprived of any human comfort.”
In those years of confinement, what he did were the following: “He jogged in his cell by the hour. When he became so frustrated he had to scream, he stuffed his underwear into his mouth to muffle the scream. He would not give his captors the satisfaction of knowing his frustration.”
Then one day, something happened: “In the depths of despair, General Risner lay down on the floor and looked all around his small rectangular-shaped cell,” Ziglar notes. “He put his eye next to the cinder blocks, hoping that there would be a crack in one of them. Fortunately, there was a minute opening and he saw a single leaf. Later, he stated that seeing that evidence of life outside was a tremendously uplifting and life-changing event.”
Look around you. I am sure you will find that there are so many things you have to be thankful for. Ralph Marson reminded: “What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it– would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have.”
Thank you.
For comments, write me at henrytacio@gmail.com
