Thank you, Gracias, Merci, Tack, Danke, Хвала. The polite word "thank you" is the most basic — or the only — word we know in nearly every foreign language, or at least in the most common ones in Europe. It is felt with the heart, springs from the soul, and is not always enough to express the attitude and emotion we feel when we truly want to give thanks.
If there were an annual contest for the most beautiful Bulgarian word, I'm sure "благодаря" (thank you) would be a regular winner. And why not? What's more beautiful than gifting someone something good — giving kindness, offering a благ дар, a "good gift"?
World Gratitude Day is celebrated on January 1 each year; in the U.S. and Canada, Thanksgiving is observed on November 25 and 26, which fall in this very week; in Bulgaria similar holidays include the Day of the Christian Family, Sirni Zagovezni, and the Festival of Bread, but no specific day of gratitude. And yet — do we really need a single, dedicated day for "thank you"? Why shouldn't every day be a day of gratitude?
What do we most often say "thank you" for?
The situations we most often thank someone for are tied to everyday life and routines — for a dropped item, for change returned at the shop, just out of politeness, for a favor done, for a heads-up, for a gift given, for a compliment received. Generally, we say "thank you" most regularly for specific and obvious reasons, ones that all but require a grateful response — otherwise we'd seem rude, ungrateful, or unappreciative of what was done for us.
But gratitude actually hides in many other places — quiet little moments that grant us a special emotion and feeling. For example, while writing this article, I'm listening to piano performances by Jacob's Piano — 10 pieces: A tribute to Ludovico Einaudi. The piece is called Giorni Dispari, and my eyes well up at the beauty of the sound being made. It is so tender, refined, ethereal and unreal. Just beautiful. And I feel gratitude for this moment, that I can feel emotions for which words are too poor and inadequate. I also feel gratitude when I receive emotional support and comfort in a hard moment from people close to me. That moment is a great gift — one I would not have received if I hadn't met with difficulty and challenge.
Thank you to myself for not giving up to the feeling of "I can't," and for accomplishing something I couldn't do before. I overcame some fear.
And what do we not (give ourselves) thanks for?
We often forget — or never even think — to be grateful to ourselves for the chapters of life we've lived through. It's also hard to be grateful for them, especially when they were heavy and painful. But that is exactly how our personality grows, and how we rise above ourselves and our demons. We don't thank ourselves for the small things — like a walk in a beautiful forest; for taking care of ourselves with a beauty treatment; for gifting ourselves an experience; for tending to our peace of mind and inner comfort.
The devil is in the details, they say. But the details are also where the real, the elevated, the unyielding lives. Someone doesn't have to do something for us in order for us to feel grateful. Let us give thanks for the life lessons we've learned, even though they bring suffering with them; let us be thankful that we are here and that we are working to live a good and happy life. This requires a certain amount of inner strength — strength that lives in each of us, but how aware of it are we?
Thank yourself, value yourself, don't forget yourself or push yourself aside, give yourself the gift of gratitude — for who you are, and for the principles and values you carry in your soul. And thank you, for taking the time to read this article all the way through.