Why We Should Say Thank You… According To Native Americans
Why We Should Say Thank You? This is an excellent question. Many of us are pretty quick to ask for what we want but how many of us are actually grateful for what we already have?
It’s true most of us do not appreciate what we have enough. Even though what we actually have is already AWESOME. Our amazing friends/families, our fantastic opportunities and our general ‘unthought-of’ luxuries.
The Native Americans we know for Thanksgiving. For people like myself over in Europe and other continents, we do not celebrate this. We might think of a Turkey dinner and people holding each other’s hands around the table. Of course, we’ve all seen the TV shows set in the USA. For Americans, this is a very big deal but how many of us actually realise why these rituals take place, to begin with?
Of course, the name says it all. Thanksgiving is for saying prayers and giving thanks. Quite an important tradition for Native American tribes and something that has been adopted by almost every settler that has come to North America for quite some time now.
It (Thanksgiving), in North America, is right up there with Xmas and Halloween but how many Americans (and others) actually understand about this…
That, Being thankful is not only good for the soul but it is also good for prosperity.
Why We Should Say Thank You…
So, rather than asking for things we want instead, we are grateful for what we have already.
In Native American tradition, it is not polite to ask God for what we want. It is only right to say Thank You to God for what we have already been given. Whether, this be food, shelter, love or good times.
Many of us do not even realise how much time we selfishly pray for what we don’t have and not for what we already do. It is kind of an innocent enough mistake to make.
We don’t realise the best things in our lives until they are no longer here.
Yet there is so much more to the concept of appreciation than we actually realise. What we must think about is – what we do with the feeling of being grateful and truly appreciating the positive influence of others.
As for this, we must understand the impact this has on our very soul and how this might elevate us to do greater things.
So, We Give Thanks…
Desire is an amazing thing. For the right people truly knowing what they really want is almost always enough to make it happen. Yet, when we consume ourselves with greed and pursue things that are not pure of our own heart – we allow destruction to consume us. The pattern repeats itself and always will.
We become to our own detriment and almost always because we do not appreciate the good things. Many of us will read this now and feel the true horror of realisation. Our trouble is we do not do what the Native Americans practice religiously.
“Never ask God for what you do not have. Only thank God for what you have already”.
It is interesting to think how much groups such as Native Americans are better human beings. Many of us would benefit from celebrating something along the lines of Thanksgiving. Many other countries have a Harvest Festival in Autumn but many do not celebrate this unless they are Christian for example.
Really we should because every year our farmers are harvesting food that we will all end up eating. For this, we should say thank you. Not to the farmers so much, not even to God but to ourselves so in our hearts, we are grateful for what they do for us. In fact, anybody that helps us, and supports us through our darkest days we must be thankful for.
We Must Realise How Fortunate We Are For What Have and How Lucky We Actually Are
It is already bad that whilst we prosper somewhere else there are others who do not. We might believe that we are better than they are. Maybe to us, we will think it’s because we work hard whilst others will not work hard. It’s like sure, this is the world we live in – many will be at fault for their own mistakes and misfortune.
However, many will not. If they are homeless, out of work, hungry or unwell this could be for any number of reasons.
Whatever is the case we must not let our selfish egos forget why we have nice things whilst others don’t. The opportunities we have been gifted, the chances that others have given us and all classic examples of things in life we should be grateful for. It could well turn out to be that one day it is us in need instead.
So we must be gracious. Not everyone will be in a position to help others but everyone is in a position to be grateful for what we have. However, big or small appreciation for what is good is the key to an enlightened path.
How Grace Can Bring Us Closer To God
When we hear the term Grace – do we think of great? To be graceful, to our fellow man. Continuing on with the topic above.
Here is the dictionary definition of Grace.
In the English language, it is kind of a word with different meanings. Like “The Ballerina Danced Gracefully” is one but the true meaning is being thankful. In Spanish Thank you is Gracious, In Italian it’s Grazie.
Grace is a great thing. God is a big word for almost everyone but what it means is GOOD. God is GOOD. We choose to believe in a righteous path to bring us closer to god.
My point is by being grateful for what we already have is good for not only the soul but as a foundation to grow in other ways.
Psychologically speaking when we do not appreciate the things we should we create a kind of apathy. We become blind to what is gracefully given to us. Then when we don’t appreciate the good things we eventually fail to realise what they are.
We get sucked under by the same bad mistakes and through a cycle of underappreciation. If we have a job we do not appreciate or are not grateful to have ~ how long will we last? Surely if you were to offer someone the opportunity to work for you would you prefer – someone that is appreciative for what you have given then or somebody who is not?
It also works vice versa would you like to work for a boss that doesn’t appreciate your time?
Why We Say Thanks…
Surely, we remind ourselves of what we like, what we love and what’s important.
My point for writing this post has been this idea. That once we become thankful we realise the good aspects of our being more. We are perpetuated to think more positively.
Most people that are unhappy are this way because they know not what happiness is. It is fairly normal to grow up in this day and age and to stop playing with our toys, to stop playing games, telling jokes and really becoming more insecure.
Our programming has led us to be mundane. Being happy is a feeling that needs to be re-established the older we get. We need to say I like this song, I like this game, I like that person etc. Then we must say thanks so we can truly appreciate what these things really are.
How To Say Thanks Through Meditation
One way we may say thanks is through the power of prayer or meditation. When we close our eyes we can say either thank you to god or I am thankful for… whatever we are thankful for.
Whilst we are saying these thanks we may also try to think of other things to give thanks for. We might not think so beforehand but there are so many things that we can be thankful for.
Some examples might include;
- How someone has recently helped you
- Having somewhere to live
- The place where you work
- Someone else’s act of kindness
- The food in your cupboards
- Your time spent with friends and family
- The Forgiveness of others we may have wronged
- Our Good Fortune and Better Days etc.
In Conclusion
To think that just by our thoughts alone we can change our destiny is not too crazy a concept. Much like manifestation, the law of attraction and positive affirmations there certainly can be something to be said about why we should say thank you…
What we give thanks for helps us to appreciate what we have more and that what we appreciate more we are given more reason to maintain and grow.
The Native American culture is one that has developed from this philosophy in many ways. We might think that the idea of saying thanks and expecting better things to happen in our lives is a bit out there. But is it really? for a good deed, many will not expect much more than the gratitude of those that they help.
Giving ourselves gratitude and to the power of good (god), we can grow not only spiritually but also in how we react to the world us. Something that is much deeper than any religion although this is also something that has become prevalent in the prayers of many (if not all) religious faiths.
So with this in mind, I would like to thank you if you have taken the time to read today’s blog post.
To nurture and grow in our secret garden of the mind
Best regards;
Alex B. Chivers
Secretgardenofmind.com
It took me a little bit to soak in what I just read…
I think you are hitting the nail right on the head in this post. It is sooo… true that we take sooo… much for granted and have sooo… much more than that even to be thankful for without even knowing it.
That’s the part that keeps us innocent, I suppose: the part or being ignorant or unaware of all the blessings we truly have been given and are right before our eyes and even within grasp… I mean, if we was aware of the blessings existence enough to know to reach out and grab it.
You are so correct that life begins to open up more, or maybe even, give away more of its’ magic once you realize and accept that every single thing in life is a blessing no matter what.
Many people get wrapped up in complaining about his and her blessings too. It is innocent of course, (as an example) many people do not realize the job they hate is a blessing for them at the moment that will lead them to what they want in the future.
No, instead of being thankful for that crappy job that makes them strive for better, they only wish for the better future and long for it, work for it, stress for it; forgetting about, and even taking for granted, the time they have at this very moment in the NOW, the place their minds should truly be at because it is where everything else that matters is…just waiting for them to get back from the future.
That’s just how I feel.
Greg
Hi Greg, Thank you for taking the time to comment. It took me some time to write all this I must admit. I was watching a video online by Max Igan, not sure if you know of him but anyhow he said about this in one of his videos. Only for a few minutes but basically that people selfishly pray every week for their problems to be solved and that they don’t even realise it whilst the Native Americans he said will only pray to say thanks. It actually made me realise that I am just as guilty of this myself and to be a better person and more enlightened I should be more grateful not just in person but as I meditate and pray. I think if more people could adopt this philosophy then we would be better people for it. It’s like you say about the crappy job that the typical person complains about having – if they were just more grateful for the actual opportunity then that could help them not only appreciate this time more but to help them progress to a better situation.
I think this is the key for not only me but for so many people so really appreciate you taking the time to read this and respond.
Best regards;
Alex
It’s crucial to be grateful and it’s very easy to forget what we have especially when much of our time is spent thinking about what we don’t have. Sometimes we need reminding. I often hear people say I have nothing to be grateful for. Really? It’s very easy to forget the most important things like having eyes to see, food in our bellies, the beauty of nature, that one can touch, hear birdsong and smell the scent of a flower. Love your article!
Hi Martine, Glad you like this. Yes, I think that many people take a lot of things for granted. Quite simply I think for the average person it is just a matter of giving it some time to think about. Once we do this there is actually so much out there that we can be grateful for. Thanks for reading. Best regards; Alex