"No duty is more urgent than that of giving thanks."
Saint Ambrose (AD 340 - 397)
Theologian and Catholic Bishop
Ancient spiritual teaching say that what we give to another person with a full heart returns to us a hundredfold. So being grateful and saying thank you to another person for anything you receive from them is not only urgent, its vital to improving your life!
Gratitude is a powerful energy, and so whomever you direct gratitudes energy toward, thats where it goes. If you think of gratitudes energy looking like sparkling magic dust, then when you express gratitude to another person in return for something youv received from them, you are literally sprinkling them with that magic dust! The powerful, positive energy in magic dust reaches and affects whomever you sprinkle it on.
Most of us make contact with many people every day, whether on the phone, through email, or face to face at work, in stores, restaurants, elevators, buses, or trains, and in many cases the people we make contact with deserve our gratitude, because we are receiving something from them.
Think about the people you encounter on a typical day who provide you with some kind of service, like those working in stores or restaurants, bus or cab drivers, customer service people, cleaners, or the staff at your work. The people who work in service are giving themselves to serve you, and you are receiving their service. If you dont say thank you in return for their service, then youre not being grateful, and youre stopping good from coming into your life.
Think about the maintenance workers who keep out transport systems working safely, and those who maintain the service of utilities such as electricity, gas, water, and our roads.
Think about the cleaners of the world who clean our streets, public bathrooms, trains, buses, airplanes, hospitals, restaurants, supermarkets, and office buildings. You cant personally say thank you to all of them, but you can sprinkle them with magic dust by saying thank you next time you pass one of them. And you can be grateful next time you sit at your clean desk, or walk on a clean sidewalk, or across a polished floor.
When youre at a cafe or restaurant, sprinkle magic dust by saying thank you to each person as they serve you. Whether cleaning the table, giving you the menu, receiving your order, filling your glass with water, serving the meal you ordered, clearing the table, giving you the bill, or giving you your change, remember to saythank you every single time. If youre in a store or a supermarket checkout, sprinkle magic dust and say thank you to the person who serves you or packs your groceries.
If you are traveling by plane, sprinkle magic dust by saying thank you to the check-in people, the people in security, the person who checks your ticket as you board, and the cabin crew who greet you as you enter the plane. During the flight say thank you to the cabin crew every time they perform a service for you. Serving drinks and food or removing your plate or trash is a service. The airline thanks you for flying with them, the captain thanks you, and the crew thank you, so do the same and thank them as you leave the plane. And every time you take off and land at your destination say thank you, because the fact that you can fly is an absolute miracle!
Be grateful to those people who assist you in your work, whether they are clerical staff, receptionists, canteen staff, cleaners, customer service people, or any of your work colleagues. Magic dust them all with thank you! All of them are doing you a service, and they deserve your continued gratitude in return.
Store assistants, waiters, and waitresses work very hard to serve people. They have chosen a job to serve other people, and serving the public means encountering all kinds of people in varying moods, including those who are ungrateful. Next time you are being served by another person, remember that the person who is serving you is a precious daughter or son to parents, an irreplaceable brother or sister to siblings, a mother or a father to a family and children, and loved and adored partner or friend, and they deserve your kindness and patience.
At times you may encounter a person in service who behaves rudely toward you or doesnt give you the attention you think you deserve. It may be more challenging to be grateful in those situations, but your gratitude cannot be dependent on another persons behavior. Choose to be grateful no matter what! Choose magic in your life no matter what! It might help you to remember that you dont know what difficulty someone might be going through at the time you connect with him or her. They may be feeling unwell, they may have just lost a loved one, their marriage might have just ended, or they may be in desperation and at a tipping pint in their life. Your gratitude and kindness might be the most magical thing that happens to them that day.
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
Philo and Alexandria (Circa 20 BC - AD 50)
Philosopher
If you thank someone on the phone for his or her help, dont throw away yourthank you; instead, give
the reason why youre grateful. For example, "Thank you for your help". "Thank you for going out of your way for me". "Thank you for giving me so much of your time". "Thank you for resolving the situation for me, Im very grateful to you". You will be amazed at the response from the other person when you do this simple thing, because they will feel your sincerity.
When you say thank you to someone in person, look at his eyes on her face. They will not feel your gratitude or receive your magic dust unless you look directly at them. Youve wasted an opportunity to help that person and to change your own life, if you say thank you to the air, or say thank you as youre looking down, or thank you while youre on your cell phone, because youre not really sincere when you do that.
A couple of years ago I was in a store buying a gift for my sister. The store assistant who served me listened to what I was looking for, and then went on a search for the perfect gift as though it was for her sister! As the store assistance handed me the bag containing the perfect, beautiful wrapped gift, I received a call on my cell phone. I was finishing the call when I reached the front entrance of the store, and suddenly an unsettled feeling swept over me. I immediately returned to the store assistant who had helped me, and I not only thanked her, but I told her all the reasons why I was grateful to her, and how much I appreciated everything she did for me. I showered her with gratitudes magic dust! Her eyes filled with tears, and the biggest smile youe ever seen swept across her face.
Every action always has an equal reaction. If you really mean it when you saythank you, the other person person will feel it, and you will not only have made another person feel really good, but your gratitude will fill you with an indescribable happiness.
I dont use magic dust only for the people who serve; I use gratitudes magic dust in all kinds of situations. When I say good bye to my daughter before she drives to her home, I feel gratitude for her having arrived home safely, and I wave my fingers in the air and imagine sprinkling magic dust over her and her car. Sometimes I sprinkle magic dust on my computer before I begin a new project, or sprinkle magic dust ahead of me before I walk into a store to look for something in particular that I need. My daughter uses magic dust when shes driving, and if she sees another driver who seems to be stressed and is speeding, she sprinkles magic dust over them to help make them feel better and keep them safe.
Today, take gratitudes magic dust with you for the people who work in service, and look for every opportunity you can to sprinkle magic dust on everyone by saying thank you. Thank at least ten people who perform different services you benefit from today. It doesnt matter if you dont get the opportunity to do it in person; you can mentally acknowledge the people whose service you benefit from. The magic dust will still teach them. As an example, mentally say to yourself:
I m really grateful to the cleaners who work through the early hours of the morning, making sure that the streets are cleaned of trash every day. Ive never really thought about how grateful I am for that service , which is done like clockwork every day, Thank you.
Make sure you keep count of the people in service you are grateful for, so that you know when you have thanked ten different people for their services and sprinkled magic dust on them all. If you imagine the sparkling magic dust falling over people when you thank them, you have a picture of what really happens in the invisible with the power of gratitude. With this picture in your mind, it will help you to believe and know that the magic dust of gratitude really does reach people, and that it will be available to help them to improve their lives. And every time you sprinkle magic dust over another person, it also returns to you in your own life.
If youre at home today, then sit down with a pen and journal or on your computer, and go back in your mind recalling instances where people in service went our of their way for you. If may have been someone on the phone, or it may have been a tradesperson who was determined to resolve a problem for you. Maybe youve received great service from your mail person, the trash collectors or recycling companies, or local store assistants. Make a written list of ten instances where people in service helped you, and send magic dust by saying thank you to every one of them.
Magic Reminder
Read through tomorrows practice today, because the practice for Day 11begins when you first wake up.
Magic Practice Number 10
Magic Dust Everyone
1. Count Your Blessings. Make a list of ten blessings. Write why youre grateful. Reread your list, and at the end of each blessing say thank you, thank you, thank you, and feel as grateful for that blessing as you can.
2. Today, sprinkle magic dust on ten people who perform services you benefit from, by thanking them directly or otherwise by mentally acknowledged and thanking them. Feel grateful to them for the service they perform!
3. Just before you go to sleep tonight, hold your Magic Rock in one hand, and say the magic words, thank you, for the best thing that happened during the day.
4. Read through tomorrows practice today, because the practice for Day 11 begins when you first wake up.
