What Did You Say?

I wrote this one 11 years ago today, and it still holds true.

Today’s title was the question of the day, yesterday. I ran out to Katy to see Lauren and Tristen for lunch. Lauren gave her order then server looked at me for mine. I said, “I would like a grilled chicken Caesar salad, please. She said, “What did you say? I got the salad but not the last part.” I smiled, Lauren smiled, and I repeated, “please.” The server smiled and said, “I don’t get to hear that much.” She walked off to place the order. I looked over at Lauren and she was still smiling. I said, “And that is how you change a life.” I thought about the conversation a lot yesterday and told the story a few times. Two things kept coming back to me regarding the conversation. Was I so quiet when giving my order, or is the word please just so foreign these days? I did my root cause analysis on being quiet and determined my volume was okay as she got the order down. That left me with the word please just being a foreign concept for some these days.

I say please and thank you with most every interaction I have each day. For me, it is a way of life and part of living the lifestyle of gratitude. Just look at one of the definitions of the word, please - to give enjoyment, pleasure, or satisfaction to; make glad or contented. How could you not want to say please when you see the real definition of the word? Please is a verb and creates action. Look at the second word in the definition, give. The word give is the root to living a life of gratitude. You are giving love, giving blessings, giving good energy, giving thanks. You give without expectation as it is the right thing to do. When you give, you change the world by spreading gratitude. Make please and thank you staples in your vocabulary. Use them often. There is no such thing as too much gratitude.