It starts when we are very small. Sometimes before we can even talk.
We are taught by parents to say thank you. And as most parents will tell you it can continue through childhood and even into adolescence.
But learning to say thank you doesn’t mean you always say thank you.
Sometimes we forget and sometimes we just think it’s assumed and we don’t have to say it or write it or email it or text it.
For some people who work as store clerks or restaurant servers, they are required to say thank you and if they don’t, their employer may end up saying thanks for working here and here’s your last paycheck.
But for most of us, saying thank you is something we do because we know it is the right thing to do. Even when we may not feel like it.
And as we go through life, we also learn that being thankful is at least as important as saying thanks.
But we discover that sometimes we take things for granted and we’re not as thankful as we may have thought or wanted to be.
And we also come to realize that as we grow older we can be thankful for things even when there don’t appear to be that many things to be thankful for.
Take for instance what the head of Father Joe’s Villages told KOGO News about the homeless people who are being provided Thanksgiving meals this week. He said many of the homeless families he meets at these meals say thanks for the blessings in their lives. Yes he says even people who are homeless are thankful.
Amazing isn’t it? But a good reminder about being thankful on Thanksgiving.
(Photo credit Getty Images)