Saying please and thank you show good manners! But so many people don’t take the time to extend these common courtesies.
Ingratitude has become a problem. People have become insensitive to the need to say thank you. It seems that some people are too prideful to say thank you. Perhaps they want to be self-reliant, and don’t want to acknowledge the kindness of others. Perhaps they don’t appreciate the person, so they deny the individual the courtesy of a reply. Perhaps they are just rude, or self-centered. Maybe they feel entitled. Or maybe they’re just not trained well.
Maybe, you’re not one of those people, maybe you’re just busy, or forgetful, or maybe you mean well, but for some reason or another, you procrastinate.
Well, let me encourage you that it’s never too late to say thank you. In fact, when it comes to wedding gifts, etiquette customs says that the bride and groom have up to a year to send out their thank you notes.
There are so many ways we can say thank you! We can give a call to someone when we have received a package or a birthday card in the mail. We can send a photo from a place that someone made possible for us to go. We can send a text the next day after someone has had us over for dinner, or taken us to lunch. We can send a thank you card in the mail when someone has invited us to stay in their home, or given us a gift for a special occasion, sponsored an event, or donated to a missions trip or cause.
We can also thank our co-workers, or our children for helping us with a project by taking them to get a milkshake, or coffee, or out to a movie. We can thank our parents or siblings by taking them out to lunch, or getting them a gift card to one of their favorite places. We can thank our friends by having a get together, or thank our spouse by writing a special note or helping with a special project. We can thank our neighbors by baking them a plate of cookies, or brownies, or by offering to watch their children. We can thank our employees by sending them flowers on their work anniversary, or a gift card for a job well done, or extra effort shown.
How many ways can we say thanks? There are so many! The important thing is that we acknowledge and thank those around us.
Let’s not be like the 10 people the Jesus healed and only one came back to tell Him thank you!
It only takes a few minutes, and it’s well worth it. It’s what we would want other people to do for us!
Article Written by: Debbie Harper, Ph.D.
