If you're a Facebooker then you have most likely seen some "Thankful for" posts in your newsfeed over the past 14 days. Some comical, some sarcastic, but most all are completely sincere public exclamations resulting from the social media's following to express one thing each day that one is thankful for. A great and grateful movement.
As I was reading through a few of these the other day I had wondered if that person had told their child or spouse that they were thankful for them. There were other examples of expressions of thanks that would surely lift the spirits and put a smile on a face if the words of thanks hit that person’s ears (Veterans, friends, the local barista, teachers...) I wondered if the ease of typing out words to the computer screen, or on the phone before us, was replacing the invaluable and irreplaceable action of speaking thanks to ears that so need to hear that.
Believe me I'm not standing on the pulpit lecturing, far from it. I'm meditating on what I need to do better because you have brought it to my attention. Witnessing these expressions of gratitude made me realize what I fall short on. Writing out thank you notes is a task that is a rare action and I really really fall short on that one. Telling your child, spouse, parent, siblings that you appreciate them is something we mean to do, but often that is lost in the hustle and bustle of each busy day. Often only when a brush with or story of loss crosses our paths do we get rocked to the core to realize how fragile and precious the life and love around us is. It is often the hardest thing to do to express ourselves the same to those in our home as we do to those outside of our home. Home is where we can let down our hair and take off the mask. Mother Teresa said to express love everyone, but begin with those in our home. Sometimes I wonder if that would be easier if we too lived in a convent.
I tend to spend a lot of time thinking about things (ask my very patient husband who fields my machine gun firing of questions). Before I get out of bed every morning and before I fall asleep at night I do self-inventories and try to make mental lists on how I can better be the person I was created to be. It is, and will always be, a whole life process. Over the past couple of weeks as I have been reading the expressions of thankfulness I have been thinking about how thankful I am for every day to have the chance to do better. I need to get better at slowing down; looking in the eyes of the person I'm listening to (not looking at the texts or emails coming through on my phone); not let my Type A personality be the beast from within that growls at those around me on the days I am not accomplishing what I want to as I hoped to; I want to stop asking robotically in passing “How are you?” not allowing the person to answer with more than the reflexive “Fine, how are you?” I need to stop and hear, truly listen to the answer. I need to say "I love you", "Thank you", and "I appreciate you” more. I need to breathe more and hold my breath less.
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So if I was to partake in this action of posting a thanks for today I would be thankful for those who are expressing themselves on my newsfeed, allowing me to think about this more, meditate on it, and realize how I need to put words of thanks into the air, and actions to task. I appreciate you motivating me to think about that, and when I see you I hope I take the time to tell you that I’m thankful for you and that you and I are in this wonderful corner of the world.
