Life Skills: Generosity Includes Giving Thanks

Generosity simply could not be discussed without discussing the simple words of gratitude, “thank you”.  There is an expectation that when generosity is shown that the recipient of the generous act will demonstrate their gratefulness with a “thank you”.   From the other side though if we are not to be seen as someone who takes things for granted, we should be ‘generous’ with giving thanks to others for their generous acts.

Who could you thank right now for helping you?  It may not be giving you a gift of ‘treasure’, it may be the gift of ‘time’, of listening to you about your day.  It may be the gift of food at dinner prepared with loving care.   Sometimes when an act of kindness is repeated everyday over and over again, we can get used to and even begin to expect that it will be their for us everyday.  I often think about what it would be like to get home from a day of teaching at 8:30 or 9 PM as I often do, and not have a meal ready for me to eat.  What about you?  Do you have some act that is done for you every day or every week that you have grown to expect?  If so, take the time to think about how grateful you are that someone in your life is so kind and thoughtful and then say “thank you”.  Let’s be generous with our thanks to all those who touch our lives.  Make others feel special and valuable for all they do for us.  Share your generosity of treasures, time and talent with thankfulness.