There are many different ways to say thank you. Arguably, the most memorable way to say thank you is to show thank you by honoring the gift you’ve received. Did your mom ever make you wear an ugly sweater that was knitted by your aunt just because that aunt was coming to the house? That was probably your first lesson in honoring your gift and showing thank you.
There are many gifts that we take for granted because we no longer think of certain gifts as something for which we should be grateful. Abundance, life (in general), friendships, mind, spirit, and body are just a few examples.
Abundance
Give it away. Don’t give it to your friends that make slightly less money than you do. Give it to those that really need it. Fund a micro loan.
Give with no ulterior motive. Buy a plane ticket for someone that’s never left the state. Buy a plane ticket for yourself. Buy someone something to eat. Donate anonymously without the tax break benefits. Set up a trust fund for a kid in an orphanage. Become someone’s Sugar Momma (my email address is below).
Life
Express gratitude for your life often. “Jet, I’m broke, I stubbed my toe, my dog died, and I got pink eye. My life sucks!” Be sure not to confuse your life’s situation with your actual breath-in-your-lungs life. If you’re breathing and able to read this, you’ve got life. What if we stopped saying so much FML and changed our lament to a rejoicing LML (love my life)? What would that feel like? I think that it’s important to show thank you for this life by living it. There’s a difference between living and existing. I’m not going to define what living means. That’s for you to decide. But, you know that living life to the fullest does NOT mean fucking around on the face books. So, after you finish reading this blog post, go do something!
Friendships
Be kind to your friends and tell them they are appreciated. Be thoughtful and follow the platinum rule. The golden rule states, treat others like you want to be treated. That’s not always ideal. Your friends don’t think like you regarding all things. The platinum rule states, treat others the way they want to be treated. That’s a great way to honor a friendship. (Note: Friendship is synonymous with relationship. If you’re not friends with your lovers, then why are you making sweet love with them?)
Mind
A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Feed your intellect. Read books and shit, yo! Don’t confuse information with knowledge. Apply what you’ve learned.
Love your own company. Love your own conversation. (I’m not suggesting that you talk to yourself. I am suggesting that you honor your mind by developing good communication skills. Less texting and more talking. Use the phone app on your smartphone more often.)
Spirit
Wasted talent is simply criminal. It breaks my heart when people claim that they have no talent. What re you doing to sharpen your skills? Can you walk? Have you tried to find a coach to help turn that walking into dancing, cycling, running, parkour, etc.? Can you remember things better than others? That’s a talent worth honoring. Have you been complimented on your fashion sense? Have you considered coaching others on how to dress? Instead of assuming that you have no talent, assume that you haven’t found or tapped into it yet. Dig for it and honor it when you find it. If you know that you’re talented, use it or lose it. Honor the gift of your spirit by doing what you love even if you have to find what you love first.
Body
If you seek a partner, there’s no guarantee they’ll come along. If they do, they’ll be attracted to you based on how attractive you find yourself. There’ve been a number of women that I’ve dated that refuted my compliments. Whenever I pointed out what I found beautiful about them, they countered with what they disliked about their appearance. It’s always been a huge turn off. If someone is of the opinion that you are beautiful, don’t fight them. You don’t have to agree either. But, telling them why they’re wrong will limit future compliments and (possibly-as it did for me) end any interactions. Say it with me, “you are only as sexy to others as you are to yourself.” If you don’t find you sexy, how can you expect anyone else to do so? Tell me what you like about your body? I challenge you to use that question in party conversations. If given the chance, people can and will tell you about all of the things they dislike about their bodies. The irony is that they’ll blame the media for body shaming when it seems to be an inside job. We can not be shamed by others. To claim that someone has body shamed you is to give away your power and put someone else in control of your emotions. No one can shame you without your permission. Stand in the mirror and state (out loud) ten things that you love about your body. While this may seem like an exercise in vanity, it’s actually an exercise in self-esteem. You may be familiar with my website BodyFaming.com Well, after listening to a lot of people vent their frustrations about societal body shaming, I challenged them to help me begin a revolution. A body faming revolution. The website and idea was inspired by Post Secret. BodyFaming.com is a community art project dedicated to reclaiming our bodies. It’s up to us to fame ourselves, love ourselves, and to be proud of ourselves. BodyFaming.com is a safe space for that self love. Join us in a celebration of the human body as it is. No airbrushing, no photoshop, no editing of your body to fit into a certain type of pre-approved aesthetic. Here’s how it works. Submit your well-lit, anonymous (no faces allowed), and unedited pictures of your body. With each submission, write what you love about that body part. Express gratitude, pride, and beauty for your body. Submit everything! Show us your bellies, your backs, your surgery scars, your everything. For the sake of remaining anonymous, you can black out tattoos and we will never post your information.
There’s a lot to be grateful for. After you make today’s gratitude list ask yourself how you can honor those gifts? Practice self- love and I encourage you to submit an anonymous selfie to bodyfaming.com with words of your own self-love.
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