The Importance of Thanks

The last time I posted here (it has been longer than it should have been) I spoke about the Importance of Compliments. I still think that compliments are under-utilized in the modern world and I further believe that our lives are the poorer for their absence. Today I want to focus on a little different area, the area of giving thanks.

Thanks is often a topic discussed with some regularity around the later months of the year (November and December). During these months we are brought to a realization of all that we have been blessed with, given, offered and achieved throughout the year. Compounded by the holiday season, we often dwell on being thankful at those times. I was reminded of the importance of sincere thanks during the past weekend as my family gathered in the living room to watch the Academy Awards.

Anybody who has ever watched an awards program on television knows the eye-rolling that is often induced by celebrity acceptance speeches. We are so calloused towards these often insincere offerings of gratitude that we relish watching these celebrities getting “played off” the stage before they have completed their remarks. A similar phenomenon occurred in our house on Sunday night. As various celebrities that we didn’t know came across the stage to accept awards; unbeknownst to them, they would be greeted by a muttered “hurry up!” or “enough already.”

I don’t blame the reactions to these speeches that came from my family. If you consider the shotgun approach to gratitude that is employed at these events, it is difficult to place true value on the statements and sentiments offered. As humans I think we have a pretty consistent gratitude radar. That is, we know honest thanks when we see it.

With this in mind, I was recently reminded of one of my favorite acceptance speeches from a celebrity. It was offered in 1997 by Fred Rogers (1928-2003). You may remember Mr. Rogers and his sweater changing ways from your youth. I spent many hours with Mr Rogers, Lady Aberlin, Mr. McFeely, and King Friday XIII. Mr Rogers received his award at the Daytime Emmys; the whole speech is easy to find on YouTube.

I was living in France at the time of this awards ceremony (not that I would have likely been watching anyway), but a friend of mine brought up an article from Esquire, Tom Junod’s “Can You Say … Hero?”, that described the moment beautifully. Mister Rogers made a small bow and asked the room for ten seconds of silence to think of “the people who have helped you become who you are.” Then he lifted his wrist, looked at his watch, and waited. And the room did it.

I loved that the Mr Rogers I knew from my childhood mornings was the real Fred Rogers that loved his wife, appreciated his friends and after all that life had offered him, remained thankful. So, today, I ask those who happen to read my little blog to think about gratitude. Consider those to whom you should be thankful. There are so many in each of our lives who have “loved us into being.” I am thankful to so many friends, mentors, and family members. Although I may not have the ability to thank them all here, rest assured, thanks to them my heart is full today.