Gratitude

Some­times an expres­sion of grat­i­tude seems inad­e­quate.  I’ve noticed that when one per­son tells another thank you, it usu­ally comes from the heart: which is not a bad place to start.  Of course, the ever-popular thanks comes in some­times as well.  It seems to me, how­ever, that thanks doesn’t cut down into where it needs to go to be mean­ing­ful to the recip­i­ent.  Thank you is a per­sonal expres­sion.  Thanks is like a group of poten­tial per­sonal expres­sions, none of which may be assigned to you at this moment.

Now, what do you do when thank you is not enough?  Some­times a per­son plays a spe­cial role that can­not be ade­quately rewarded with words.  A per­son who is not a sig­nif­i­cant other, but is truly sig­nif­i­cant and mer­its a spe­cial acknowl­edge­ment of your grat­i­tude, but usally is not look­ing for it, or even want­ing it.  You have to sneak in thank yous to these people.

So, next time you want to say to some­one that they have done a great job, or have played a mean­ing­ful part in your life, please use more than one word to express your­self, and if you have to, sneak it in…