Joi,Sigers,husband,and,have,bo DIY Joi Sigers
When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in
My husband and I have bought things from eBay for years: books, Tommy Bahama tops, baseball memorabilia, dolls, etc. Recently, we came across a first that made us both take notice. With the book the seller had enclosed a THANK YOU card. He wrote a little note inside simply thanking us for our purchase. It wasn't the note, I guess, that was so surprising. It was the fact that SO MANY before him hadn't done so; a fact that hadn't hit us until we saw this sender's note. Graciousness is a beautiful thing. Humanized, it'd be a cross between Johnny Depp and Beyonce. It would have the sweetness and goodness of Mother Theresa, and the wit and wisdom of Oprah. Unfortunately, it's becoming an endangered trait in danger of becoming extinct. How many times do we go through an ever-increasingly painful department store check-out routine choreographed by a sour cashier? How often, when going through a drive-thru, do we have to guess when our worker in the window is done with us. I remember when "Thank You, have a nice day" was my cue to drive on. Half the time now I get a blank look and a bag who's contents supposedly match up with what I said. The great Roman Orator and Politician, Marcus T. Cicero, said, "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others". True, that. If one has gratitude, it's a pretty fair estimation that many other virtues will follow: kindness, fairness, temperment, tolerance, etc. It's one of the things that should separate us from those who walk about upon four as opposed to two. Who is the last person you looked in the eye and thanked for something they did or said? When, in the store or drive-thru, did you last you smile at the worker and say, "Thank you. You have a great day!"? Perhaps if more of US did so, more of THEM would be in better humor! Often when I'm at Kroger, (an institution on the receiving end of all my gratitude and money) I grab extra little surprises for my daughters - whether it's Ice Cream, Nerds, Runts, a new magazine whatever. I usually grab these treats even before I begin the actual shopping. One of the reasons they're so FUN to buy things for is because they're always so grateful. They say "Thanks!" with a smile in their voice immediately upon receipt and never, ever fail to mention it again later in the day. If they hadn't always been so incredibly thankful, I doubt I'd be such a walking Willy Wonka expert right now! It's just rewarding to do things for people who appreciate it. Everyone's a winner, everybody feels good. I've seen far too many kids who, when given something by a parent or grandparent take it as though it's the least the adult could've done. They're countenance says, "I had that coming." Were I the adults in question, my countenance would have plenty to say in response! Once at a baseball game I couldn't hold my tongue. Okay, truth be known, I didn't actually try, so I don't know whether I could or not. A player left his stretching routine to come over and sign a ball for an obnoxious autograph-seeking 12 year old. The player smiled, said "How you doing, buddy?" and signed his name. The kid (nor his mom!) ever uttered a word, the boy just watched the ball and the mom just watched the young man in the uniform. After he gave the ball back to the kid, the mom and son turned to leave. I said, "What should you say?" to which the kid muttered a "Thanks" over his shoulder. The mom just looked bewildered (can't blame her I guess, it was a really tough question). The player and I exchanged looks and he said, "They hardly ever say thank you." How many shades of wrong is that?! Not only should we, as adults, be more gracious, we need to start demanding it from our young people. Otherwise, the future will be full of ungrateful, unthankful, sour-faced individuals who think the world owes them rather than thinking they owe the world. The thought should keep you up at nights.
Joi,Sigers,husband,and,have,bo