Find A Lot With Thanks And Giving
Have you ever felt unappreciated?
I have. Many years ago, I had demonstrated a particular skill for saving customer relationships. Consequently, a peer in Marketing asked me to train and implement a program company-wide to restore customers who were in danger of ending our service. With little input from him, my team delivered and made the company A LOT of money. I didn’t think much of the fact that my colleague reported all of the progress to senior management.
Then, I got a lesson in life. He won a public thank you from the company president and a BIG promotion. I tried not to feel differently after that, but I couldn’t help it. Not just about him. But about the company, too. Oh, I earned my money; I gave them a good day’s work and more, but my heart wasn’t in it in the same way. I began to notice that while I thanked my good, good team regularly, I rarely received a thank you for anything. Eventually, I put in my two-week notice for a better situation elsewhere and was genuinely surprised when my boss and his boss met with me to counter offer. I didn’t stay.
Why is it so important to express appreciation?
I watched Andy Stanley, Pastor of Northpoint Church in Atlanta, recently, and he explained it this way. You really should listen to it! You might think that I didn’t need to be thanked because I got a paycheck, right? However, gratitude not expressed feels like ingratitude. And no one gets where they are without others. Being able to understand and say that you didn’t get there by yourself shows your maturity. Expressing gratitude strengthens every relationship.
Who in your life needs to hear thanks from you this week? How about the people inside your home? Just pick something and get started right now!
This week is the perfect time to express gratefulness to your friends and family you don’t see every day! If it can’t be in person, FaceTime works. Or your pen. The telephone is always right. Developing this habit does work inside a family and us.
Look, I don’t feel too badly about not liking what happened to me. It happened to Jesus, and he was none too happy. He healed ten people who had leprosy after they called to him for mercy. Leprosy is an infectious disease that causes severe, disfiguring skin sores and nerve damage in the arms, legs, and skin areas around your body. It’s been around since ancient times, and back then, if you had it, you were not welcome anywhere. You couldn’t work, be with your family, and were an outcast! Jesus told them to present themselves to the priests; they were healed while on the journey. Then…
“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” Luke 17: 15-17
I want to be that guy.
During this season of thankfulness, let’s make it our focus to thank Jesus. And everybody else.
Sometimes it’s hard to feel thankful when we’re not happy. I know a little something about that. We all do. I wrote about its elusiveness, but how it is possible to find. See what you think.
Post worth reading:
The Generous Husband | Give Thanks
10 Comments
Teresa StEsprit
These stories are so good to remind us of life on the daily basics
Lori
Thank you, Teresa. This encourages me to keep on going.
Laura
I think saying thank you in marriage is also important. My amazing husband does so many amazing things for me and I try to always say thank you for opening my door or putting gas in my car or always grocery shopping with me! He is appreciated! Thank you for the reminder!!
Lori
Such a great point. Thanking our spouses is vital. Thank you, Laura.
Laura
I definitely can relate. I always gave 110% to my previous job. But I was always never given credit for my work, my immediate supervisor was the social butterfly letting me do all the work and took credit for it and got the paycheck for it, until one day my life changed and I got the confidence to say enough is enough and made sure upper management knew who was doing all the work. It gave me the appreciation I needed to carry on. Granted I never got the paycheck and my supervisor always still took credit, but knowing they knew the truth was all I needed. I had to walk away from that job eventually because my father became ill and I needed to help my mom take care of him until he passed. Everything happens for a reason… I loved my job, but it was easy to walk away to help family and honestly my health is so much better not having that stress from being so unappreciated.
Lori
Very true. Thank you, Laura.
Jennifer Sproull
Wow! This is all so true. I think what sentence really stands out to me is: gratitude not expressed feels like ingratitude. A lot of times it seems that we should just assume that we are appreciated when that’s not always the case. It’s just nice to hear every once in a while that you’re doing a good job and that you’re irreplaceable. Every person brings different qualities and strengths to any situation and should know that they are special.
So following what you’re saying: Your blogs are incredibly insightful, positive, and worth reading. If you ever wonder if your blogs are meaningful and worth your time –they are!
Lori
Jennifer, what a sweet response. Thank you for the encouragement. It truly makes a difference to me.
Debra
Excellent articulation if one of the most basic life lessons. “Thank you” is one of the first and most important things we teach children, and yet as adults, we sometimes forget what we’ve learned and what we’ve taught … say thank you!
Excellent job – Thank You for sharing!
Lori
Thank YOU for responding, Debra!