I firmly believe that people don't do enough to show others gratitude. Being thankful for something provided by another is actually tough because it points to the one thing we have a hard time admitting - we need help.
I have to admit, I have a really bad habit. One that solidifies my #badyogi standing but at the same time, I hope it causes the other person a moment of pause. I tell people "you're welcome," especially when they don't thank me to begin with. If I hold the door for someone and they just rush through, I say it; if someone asks for paper/pen/something and just grabs it away, I definitely say it. I'm not sure it ever has the effect I want it to have but in my mind, if someone were to say it to me out of the blue, I would wonder "why'd they just say that??" And then my mind would wrap around the manner I forgot. My mind works differently though.
In a recent class, I walked through emotions that I associate with gratitude. Humble, content, appreciative. There is a difference in each of those feelings when you are on the receiving or the giving end. Buy someone a coffee, they say thank you, you think "no big deal." But that person has a bigger and better emotion tied to it - you thought of them when...
I think that's the underlying thread in my yoga practice and journal these days. Thinking of others. Hoping that in some way, shape or form, I can lift them up. More people than I can count somehow lifted me up and out over the past year and the gratitude I feel for each of them is overwhelming. I'm humbled to think so many people were willing to help. And I hope, in some little way each day, I can give some of that back to the world.
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