Back in December, someone sent the above picture to me in an email. I had a good laugh, especially once I read the caption. But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I find this photo convicting. It’s forced me to ask the question, “Am I a grateful person?”
Have you ever given someone a gift and then never heard back from them? Ashamedly, I’ve been one of those people who forgot to say, “Thank You.” A while back someone gave me a gift, and after a few months I realized that I had forgotten to send that person a thank you note. It was not in any way intentional, I just got busy and forgot. Once I realized what had happened, I was very embarrassed. In fact, since it had been almost 3 months, I just let it go because I was far too embarrassed to send a “thank you” at that point. That act of neglect has haunted me ever since. I should’ve sent the note anyway, along with an apology. That was an epic fail on my part- one I hope to avoid repeating in the future.
Saying “Thank You” is so important. When someone gives you a gift, they are going out of their way to do something special for you. When you ignore that fact, it can actually have the reverse affect on the person who is giving the gift. Instead of the blessing that comes from giving, they are left wondering, “Did they like the gift? Did they enjoy it? Did they appreciate it?” Or, even worse, “Did they expect it?”
So, on a scale from 1-10, how grateful are you? Do you say, “Thank You“? Do you send thank you notes? My resolution is to get better at this and to let others know just how grateful I am for their generosity. I anticipate that I may fail again, but if I do, I hope that I can recognize that failure and then own up to it.
Think about it.