Now Say “Thank You”

I remember listening to Earl Nightingale and I made it my habit to listen to it on a daily basis. Something Mr. Nightingale said caught my attention. He said when you wake up in the morning, and before you go to bed, you should say “Thank you.” I wonder if we realize how powerful that simple action of gratitude is.

We are richly blessed with time. When we wake in the morning, we’ve been given a fresh deposit, and we’ve been given only enough sufficient funds for the day. Our first order of business should be to say “Thank You!” 

Why should we say “thank you?” Well, first, we humans are mere mortals, only deserving of death, and each day that passes marches us towards that deserved end, despite all of our best efforts, so when you awake in the morning, you should be thankful for the fresh availability of funds. The Bible says this in Psalm 90 “Teach us to number our days....” We are finite, and so undeserving of new and fresh opportunities, so when we say “Thank You,”we are taking an inventory at the beginning or end of our day of our time

Second, we are recognizing the value of the funds. Consciousness is one of the greatest keys to success in all things pertaining to life, and we know our daily budget of time when we become more aware of its value, allowing us to better invest our time wisely. Time is always our most undervalued asset. You can never buy time; you can only invest it into systems that produce value. And once that time is spent, unrealized value is a complete loss and never returned.

Third, and the final point I wish to make here: when we say “thank you,” we automatically open ourselves to receive new value. My mentor, John Malott said it like this: “You cannot pour from an empty cup.” I say open wide in thanksgiving, and you’ll make room for greater blessing and benefit. Gratitude is the open hand that flourishes, ready to receive greater blessing. We’ve heard the famous words of Jesus, which Paul reminds us of in Acts 20:35: “It’s more blessed to give than receive.” What if we could tap into that abundance fully? Scientific study even recognizes the benefit of giving. 

What if the first thing we gave each day was thanks? We already know that we are acknowledging the day and valuing the day. So when we give thanks for our day, at the beginning and at the end, isn’t it fair to reasonably expect its value to increase? We become happier, healthier, and stronger. And thanksgiving ultimately is an act of faith. We are leaving our time in the hands of God almighty when we say “Thank you.” 

Let me issue this challenge to you: when your alarm goes off in the morning and when you lay down, before anything else, say “Thank You.” God gives us so much, and we must be more thankful. We have lost sight of that and I believe that if we can become more grateful, we can learn to once again abound, be blessed, and be more of a blessing once again. 

Now say “Thank You!”