Just say thank you

Today on my plane flight I was sitting by a little boy whose mom was a middle seat- row away. I offered to switch her and she kept talking about how grateful she was. I was like it's no big deal. Then I saw a woman who couldn't grab her bag. I reached up and took it to her. She smiled and said thank you a few times. Really, it's no big deal. But it made me feel great, doing something nice for someone and them demonstrating gratitude.

As a nurse, I'm constantly looking for things to do to help my patients. My job is to notice them, my job is to care, to meet their needs: physical, mental, and spiritual. And I think that in many ways working as a nurse is helping me to become a better person. It's really humbling to have to provide total care to a patient- even a kid. You are also exposed to so much pain and family drama that it reminds you to thank God for your blessings. You learn how to serve someone- not just conveniently- but literally for hours.

But sometimes at the end of my nursing shifts I am just so frustrated and exhausted from the level of care I feel I have provided and the lack of gratitude or appreciation felt. I understand why it is so easy for nurses to get burnt out or to stop caring. It is so hard to give someone's family and kids 100% of your time and energy- just to be taken advantage of. It's hard when you are working your butt off meeting their needs in every which way and no one says thank you.

I help my kids get food when they are hungry and the cafeteria doesn't do their job.
I help my kids take a bath if their mom is busy or sleeping.
I change my babies diapers when mom fails too.
I tell my kids stories and think of jokes in efforts to make them feel better.
I give them meds; I talk to medical doctors to advocate for their extra needs; I run in circles for 13 hours..

And out of 9 weeks of working in the hospital, I've only had one mom tell me how thankful she was for her care. And it made a difference. It made my whole day better.

And you may be saying.. well that's your job- your a nurse. You're supposed to be nice; you're supposed to give medicines; you're supposed to serve your patients. So why should your patients and families say thank you?-- especially when they are going through a terrible time in their life.

The reason why we should all say thank you is we are all human. We all have struggles. We all have bad days. And most of us are trying to do our best with our work and our jobs. When we praise someone, when we compliment them, we help them to believe in themselves. We demonstrate love and care in the most basic way by acknowledging their worth.

Thank you.

I see you.

I appreciate what you have done.

I can say it to the Starbucks lady who had to rewrite my drink order. And the mailman who asked me how my day was going. And the shop-owner who helped me pick out the perfect dress.

"Thank you so much. Give compliment (even if generic). You are doing a great job."

Because when we edify each other verbally, when we give praise, we lift each other up. We remind each other that we can make a difference. We help each other to dwell on the positive. We make the other person want to be kind again.

There's enough people who offer criticism and choose to put us down. And let's face it, we all have areas that are worthy of criticism I'm sure. But what if we chose to encourage, to acknowledge, to say thank you. What if we chose to lift each other up verbally- to help each other believe in ourselves and believe that we are loved by God.

I don't know about you- but I want to learn to say thank you more. I want to thank people that are often taken for granted. I want to thank my best friends who have changed my life more than they know. I want to thank my family who is literally my rock. I want to thank God for life and love each day. I want to be a thankful person.

Because thankful people they are just way better =)