Thank you is something you do.

Thank You ... Is Something You Do
Two words. Thank You.

Thank you is the polite thing we are taught as kids.

It's something we say to someone who does something for us, or maybe gives us a gift, or brings us dessert, coffee, tea, an iced tea on a hot day.

Maybe, someone gave you a ride some place, helped you with your homework, whatever it is you could possibly say, thank you for.

And, you dutifully say ... Thank you.

Merriam Webster's dictionary says the definition is as follows:

Main Entry: thank-you
Pronunciation: 'tha[ng]k-"yü
Function: noun
Etymology: from the phrase thank you used in expressing gratitude
: a polite expression of one's gratitude

See that? It says a polite expression of one's gratitude.

That's sweet. Right?

Here's the thought process behind what thank you's really supposed to mean, IMHO.

Thank you, is to express gratitude and appreciation for what someone has thoughtfully done for you.

Because, I feel, at times people take the term "Thank You" and use it inappropriately.

How so?

It's a conditioned response to any of the above things I mentioned.

Sometimes people say thank you only because they know they are supposed to do it when someone does something for you.

To me, Thank you should be much more than that.

It should be about the time it took, the time a person took to do something selfless for you. It should be about appreciation that they took the time to take care of a need that you had. A chore, the laundry, the dishes, taking the garbage out.

At what point, in the roles that people play in their everyday lives to they assume that they should not show appreciation by really meaning it when they say "Thank You".

It's no wonder why so many feel unappreciated at times.

Thank you is nice... but the thing is.

To really be appreciated for the time taken out, for the things that they "do not have to do" but do it because they care enough to do it, would be alot better.

Pay attention to what you say thank you to. Are you taking for granted tha this perons is supposed to do it for you because they're doing it?

Are you recognizing that true appreciation, while not the goal of the person doing that nice thing, is still deserved?

Can you imagine, how you would feel, if someone said thank you ... to you... and they recognized the reasons you've done it?

Because you cared enough to do it.

Not because you HAD to do it.

Thank you, to me, isn't just something we say.

It's something we DO.