Have you said thank you?

Today a young man I’ve been mentoring for years made my day-He said thank you! Words really can’t convey how much he blessed me and the extreme high this simple act gave me. Just two words THANK YOU. When I first entered a bus in the UK one thing that awed me was how passenger after passenger said thank you to the bus driver as they alighted. To my Nigerian mind I just couldn’t get it. What for? I paid the money, he did his job, what’s to thank? But I tried it once and got hooked- the driver was happy and so was I! Now I say thank you so much that I get this strange look- like “what for?” but it doesn’t stop me, I’m on a roll!

I want to start a thank you revolution, get your notebook (notice I didn’t say piece of paper, you need to keep track of this). Think of any and everyone who has helped you on your life’s journey: God, friends, teachers, parents, siblings, pastor, boss (the good and the ugly), business partner, etc. Some may have helped you without even meaning to, still, they deserve thanks. For example, I started writing ferociously when I had the worst boss ever-it didn’t even make sense! I was under severe pressure, yet I’d rise early, write and prepare for what I knew was going to be an awful day! I guess it was my way of coping. All my life, I’d always been complimented for writing so, troubled by the severe criticism I received, I simply returned to a familiar place where I could do no wrong-WRITING. I knew I’d write- someday but this boss from hell pushed me to my place of destiny and I owe him a huge debt.

That step mum who said you’d amount to nothing, the boss that made you feel you knew nothing pushed you to study extra hard to prove him wrong, the teacher that didn’t believe in you.. The teacher who believed... Your friend who loaned you that insignificant amount that helped keep body & soul together. That family that first housed you in Lagos, your first great boss, boyfriend/girlfriend that boosted your confidence...Sometimes due to immaturity/capacity we may have ended these relationships in less than savoury ways but, we can still return and say thanks.

Saying thank you in cases where you were wronged does not mean people were right to treat you wrong nor does it make wrong action(s)/ behaviour (s) right, but it elevates you to a place where evil can’t touch you, makes you an enigma but best of all, it makes you truly worthy of future greatness. Make a habit of it. I designate a thank you day every week (I sometimes fail), you can do that or just designate as little as 10 minutes a day to thinking about things you are grateful for and saying thank you.

Note of warning, this habit will make you more aware of ingratitude (and it abounds!). It will also make you even more grateful! Plus, you can’t thank and criticise simultaneously, so you’ll find yourself overlooking many issues you might have magnified in the past. How do you start?  Write emails, call, text- the choice is yours really but please try as much as possible to be specific. This helps both you and the recipient as it signals areas where both yours and their skills are best deployed. In addition to words, a thoughtful gift (it doesn’t have to be expensive) puts flesh to your thanks. Please this is not a PR strategy staged to enable you ‘get something’- indeed, the people we thank may never reward us. Nevertheless, our genuine thanks puts us in a realm few mortals enter.

 Thank you to everyone who reads/shares/ thinks about my writings/ writes me. Especial thanks to the 10 angels who are mailed every time I write. You don’t know what you do to me when you comment, etc. May God bless you yet more and more! And for the people expecting £50,000 (you know yourselves!) Keep praying, someday soon...

So have you said thank you today?  http://africamyafrika.blogspot.com/