Thank You Therapy

Well it’s been almost five months since I started working and things have been going good for me. Learning a lot of things, doing a lot of stuff..... But the week before last was a bit too taxing. Lot of work, coming back late, too much of pressure....... But something that I learnt a few years ago helped me sail through this. I call it the Thank You Therapy!

It was during my days as a fulltime volunteer. In one of our gatherings in Delhi, we celebrated a very unconventional Holy Mass. During the sermon, the priest gave us each a cup of black tea and asked us to drink it. I was almost about to gulp the whole cup down when he asked us to drink it slowly and as we took each sip, remember and thank the people who made sure the cup reached our hands: right from the person who sowed the plant, to the person who plucked the leaves, the people who processed it, the ones who packed marketed transported and sold it, the person who bought it and prepared it, the one who served it to us! I was stunned! I never realised how something as simple as a cup of tea had so many people behind it making sure it reaches me! That was the best cup of tea I ever had!! And more than anything, that experience taught me to be thankful!

That experience slowly evolved into the Thank You Therapy which helped me in many situations. One particular incident was when I was in Kolkata. I was standing in a queue to reserve my train ticket at the station reservation counter. As is the case always, my queue seemed to move at the slowest pace. People in my queue were getting very irritated at the staff sitting at the counter. Slowly they started shouting and abusing. All this was getting onto my nerves as well. I was also getting irritated. But then I was reminded about the Thank You Therapy. So instead of loosing my temper or becoming obnoxious I started thanking! I thanked God for the people who built the reservation centre, for the AC, for the person sitting on the computer, for the one who taught him how to use it, for Internet, for the infrastructure which made ticket reservation possible, for the trains, for the people who made the train coaches, the ones who laid the track, the drivers who drove the trains, for all the people who worked hard so that we could have a comfortable journey......... It went on and on and on. And before I knew anything I was at the counter getting my ticket booked. Instead of becoming irritated, angry and agitated I was happy and content! While leaving the counter I told the staff ‘Thank You.’ He gave me a very puzzled look. I don’t think he was used to it.

The Thank You Therapy always works. Look at the life of St Paul. He went through such painful experiences in life, was tortured and chastised so many times, spent days in solitude, was rejected by people around him, was disappointed by the conduct of the people who first followed him. But even after all that he says, ‘Be thankful in all circumstances.’ (1Thessalonians 5:18) I’m sure he believed in the power of the Thank You Therapy.

So the next time you are going through a tough time at office/college/family, next time work or people around you make you loose your cool, the next time situations or surroundings irritate you don’t let them get on your nerves. Instead just pause and start thanking God. Thank Him for the things you have rather than feel sorry for the ones that you don’t, for the goodness of the people around you rather than crib about their faults, for all the comforts He has given you rather than complain about the constraints you face.

Trust me the Thank You Therapy will help you change from

                                                                  

                                                     TO

Start thanking and you will have a difficulty stopping!