I'm Not Thankful by Coral Russell (any book recommendations .txt) 📕

I’m not thankful.

Thankful is an adjective describing the feeling of being thankful or expressing gratitude. Although it’s closely related to grateful and those feelings of gratitude for kindness or benefits received and implies something pleasing to the senses or something welcomed and refreshing, I’m still not thankful.

OK, OK, before you start dragging out the tar and feathers, I do want to say that I appreciate

a great many things.

“What’s the difference?” you say, rolling your eyes.

Well, yes, it still means to be grateful or thankful, but, as a verb it means much, much more. For me, it just feels better. Saying, “I’m thankful” feels like I narrowly missed being hit by a bus. “I’m just thankful to be alive!” It leaves me feeling some lack that has been miraculously filled or that I’m beholden to the person I’m thanking. Which may be true and in that case saying, “I’m thankful” is perfectly reasonable.

But I’m talking about looking around you, at everything in your life and instead of being thankful, holding it in a state of appreciation.

“Again, what’s the difference?” you say as you start to back away from the crazy logophile.

Here it is! To appreciate something means to value it highly and I really like that it means you are fully conscious and aware of what you hold in esteem. To appreciate means you hold something in high regard because you have exercised wise judgement, realizing the worth of something. It’s respect, but the kind that gives you the warm fuzzies. If you appreciate something, you have attached an importance to a thing or person and it is cherished.

Which makes sense when you roll in the research. Yes, we must have research! A 2003 study suggests that “...people with a strong sense of appreciation don’t necessarily have

more than others; they simply recognize

and see

more in their lives. ...people who count their blessings are generally happier and healthier than people who don’t.” They even offer 5 steps to greater appreciation, “1. Relax, 2. Live in the moment, 3. Start with your senses, 4. Cherish any kind of lightheartedness in your life, 5. Keep an appreciation journal”

Although ‘Appreciate’ instead of ‘Thankful’ probably would not have helped Kelly Clarkson sell more albums, it does have an important place in the vocabulary of optimistic pessimists everywhere.

November is a wonderful month to start that journal. So go on, get out there - smell the aromatherapy, forget the past and

the future, show off that cute snort when you laugh, and above all, relax. Maybe life is all about appreciating the journey and not just the destination.

Text: 2010
Publication Date: 11-03-2010

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To all the logophiles out there!