“Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it.” ~ Ralph Martson

I have been so busy the past few months with work, traveling and taking part in home remodeling projects that the only real books I have found myself reading were on the topic of running or health and fitness. Don't get me wrong, I love reading all that I can on these topics, but when my girlfriends asked if I had read Kathryn Stockett's novel, The Help, I had to admit I had not. Eager for me to see the movie with them, my homework assignment was to get the book read before we went to see the movie that came out a few short days ago.

Last week I finally picked up my copy and let me tell you, it is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. From the very onset I felt such a deep connection with each of the characters. Maybe because having spent the majority of my life living in the south, I could relate to many, but not all, the scenarios in the book.

If you are not familiar with the premise of the story, it is basically about a young journalist in Mississippi in the early 1960's who elicits the help of the black women who work for the white families in the Jackson area to guide her in writing a book about their lives and the trials they faced working for these families.

As I was reading this book, there was a meaningful message about half way through that truly touched my heart. It was when Skeeter, the journalist, was interviewing, Callie, a helper who cared for a white family who always made her feel less than adequate. She never felt appreciated during her tenure, however that all changed when the matriarch of the family passed away.

As Callie recounts the story to Skeeter, when Miss Margaret passed away, she was given a note by Miss Margaret's husband thanking her for taking care of her baby with colic years earlier. This scenario had happened many years before her passing, but she wanted Callie to know that she never forgot. There is a line that Ms. Stockett wrote following this exchange that truly pulled at my heart and it reads, "saying thank you, when you really mean it when you remember what someone done for you---it's so good."
 
In less than 4 weeks I will officially hit what I consider middle age--the big 5-0, or as I see things, it is the threshold of the best in life yet to come. But one thing I have noticed is the older I get, there seems to be such a lack of appreciation in today's society. It's as if we are owed something without having to work to achieve our goals. We no longer appreciate the help and sacrifice someone else makes or does for us in the name of respect.


Saying thank you is such a simple act of kindness in acknowledging respect to the person who is helping you. When someone takes the time to utter these words, which can be found in every language across the globe, it literally can change one's whole perspective on others. Thank Yous are about learning to put someone's needs ahead of your own. It's about teaching your children to show graciousness and compassion. But most importantly saying or even writing these words show that you appreciate them as they are without any strings attached.

And if that doesn't spur you enough to embrace a life of gratitude, studies have actually shown that those individuals who express gratitude toward others are happier, healthier and are able to accept life's ups and downs that are inevitable in this journey.

So for all who have offered words of support and encouragement to me in the past, I would like to say THANK YOU! I truly appreciate each and every one of you. You all allow me to live a life that is filled with love and many blessing.

Have you read The Help? If so, were you touched by the words Callie uttered? Do you feel that expressing gratitude is what makes us a better person?