Two weeks ago, we started our look at the four phrases “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.” We thought about what it meant to feel regret over something, and then what if meant to ask forgiveness. The final two phrases link together as organically as the first two did. “Thank you,” when said from the heart, always rides on the waves of love.
For me, after I’ve said, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me,” saying “Thank you. I love you.” is like walking through a door into a spacious room filled with glowing, pastel, dancing light. The Yes, however you conceive it, embraces you and infuses you with the comfort of its limitless love.
“Yes,” it beams to you on waves that flow into your heart and mind in a way that fills you with amazement and joy.
All because you said “Thank you.”
Imagine that!
Okay. Back here in the day-to-day world, our thank you’s aren’t generally quite that profound. We utter them out of courtesy, giving them hardly a thought, fulfilling the requirements of good manners. That’s kind of cool in itself when you think about it. We still have manners. We still want to connect with each other, to signal our respect for each other. “Thanks,” we say to strangers. “Thanks,” we say to co-workers and neighbors, to loved ones, to family, to friends. “Thanks,” we say to the morning, to the night, to the Yes.
I’ll tell you a hard truth, too. Sometimes it’s really difficult to think of a single thing for which you feel anything but a cursory gratitude. You have to work to name one single thing. You name something grudgingly, knowing you would be grateful for it if you were in a different mood. Know what that means? It means you need a nap.
But even when you’re worn, even when you don’t feel the gratitude in your heart, naming some things that you know you are thankful to have or to have experienced–just naming them–will impact you more deeply than you expected.
Practice is the key. Practicing just to see what happens. For fun. For curiosity’s sake. As an experiment. Just because you feel like it, for no particular reason at all.
I’m sorry.
Forgive me.
Thank you.
I love you.
That’s it. May it serve you well.
Warmly,
Susan