#004: There are times when people need to hear thank you

Recently, I am consciously searching for opportunities to appreciate & say “thank you” more often. ​

Soon as I started this practise, not only did I easily find people to appreciate and say thank you to, like to the familiar people in life, such as family & friends, I found appreciation in the surrounding environment also, such as being able to eat delicious rice everyday, being able to wake up pleasantly, feeling the sun’s warm rays on my skin… & so on. – This made me happy because it was a confirmation that I was in a good place.

On one such day, when I travelled home on the red bus, the female bus driver got in a shouty argument with a man who wanted to board the bus with a very long stick (I think it was a building material because he was a builder with a toolbox with him). She deemed it too long to let on, yet the man argued his case for ten minutes & refuse to leave.

Wether I think he should have been allowed to get on or not isn’t an important matter to this story because I want to tell you about what happened after.

Eventually (and finally!), the man gave up & left the bus, yet the other passengers onboard the bus took to the man’s side & grumbled their two cents in a rather self-righteous manner for a couple of stops more – all in the hearing distance of the driver. Made to feel unappreciated and belittled, the driver suddenly stopped the bus in the middle of the road. She then gave her defending speech, in a composed way (bravo) but undeniably angry. Afterwards, I felt a tad nervous that her anger was reflected onto her driving.

Several stops later a female passenger was about to get off at her stop. On leaving the bus she said loud across the bus to the driver at the front: “THANK YOU~!” with a thumbs-up & paired it with one of those kind encouraging smiles. This genuine thank you was effective to calm her driving, & I thought about how the driver obviously needed to hear those two words. I also thought about how attractive a thing to do to say thank you.

Thank you’s are contagious & inspiring! Because as & when my turn to get off the bus came, I also made a point of saying thank you across the bus. Admittedly, I was totally self-aware, & a bit embarrassed, but hey I did it, and felt happier for it! Though, my gosh, kudos to people who so effortlessly say their thank you’s in buses! I have to work on not being so ruddy embarrassed…!

The phrase ‘thank you’ brings happiness to the given & to the giver, and it’s a beautiful thing. Thank you is not just any phrase, but bright & powerful to affect our environment, body, mind and soul. It can motivate people to do better, give recognition and respect that they deserve, and give meaning to what they do. It can change the mood in the room. It can totally make someone’s day! Ofcourse, saying thank you must be meaningful and genuine, & not to be thrown left right & centre. It’s gotta be from the heart, or else it won’t make a single ripple in their heart!!! And thinking it does sod all, it needs action – it needs voicing it out – otherwise how else would they know your appreciation? Right? ​

t xx