Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the
Transcrição
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the
PHILOSOPHIZING ABOUT SAYING THANKS By some 10th and 11th graders (Classes of ´15 and ´14) Gabriel Ponce Botelho: If we lived in a culture of gratitude, with mutual respect toward everyone, at every moment, there would be no robbers, corrupt politicians, murderers and much more. Victoria Cavalli and Gabriela Fonseca: Being thankful is one of the best things human beings can be. When you are thankful for something people start to see you with other eyes. Matheus Coelho: When someone thanks me for something I've done for her, I feel pleased and happy to see that I am doing good and making people happy and pleased. The culture of gratitude is very important because it represents respect and it is a way of returning the good thing you have done for someone else. In my case, when I receive a thank you, I feel pleased because when I see people are happy for things that I have done, I become happy too. Valeria Cordeiro: Cicero said: “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Kevin Dasilva: I believe that every culture should allow more personal ways of showing gratitude, such as Brazilians with their kissing on the cheeks. With all these closed cultures, people become less motivated to go to other people for help in the sense of forming a healthy and functioning society. If we were to become physically more open, we would automatically become emotionally and mentally more open and that would end many unnecessary taboos that our society is debating. Phillip Janin: Thank you is used a lot all over the world in different languages When somebody tells you thank you for something you did you feel great and you also feel great when a friend does something for you in return and you thank them back Bernardo Lacerda Jardin: In today’s society, saying thanks or showing any gesture of gratefulness is becoming obsolete. People are becoming more worried about themselves and sometimes, due to pressure/stress from work, family and personal issues they can´t be bothered to show an emotion of gratefulness or simply say thanks. So society has adapted, in a sense. People don´t expect a thanks or gesture of kindness anymore, and when they do get a "thanks" from somebody else, they are usually surprised and don´t answer anything, sometimes, just a simple "uhum.." in reply. Yet, deep down inside, regardless of our 'corrupted' society, we are humans and we feel good when someone thanks us for whatever we´ve done. So yes, it is important to say thanks to others, at least... if you believe in karma. What goes around, comes around. Camila Roca: Hmm giving thanks... Well not everybody does that. But when they do they must be definitely sure they changed somebody’s life. When I get the chance to do something for someone I don’t do it because I feel obligated to( just chores at home). I do it because I know in that particular situation I can help. I can give a hand to someone. Sometimes you work your heart out to do that thing and you don’t even get a little credit for it. That is the time when you start to wonder if you should continue to help that person or not. Also it makes you feel a little bit rejected, as if all you did was for nothing. Of course when you choose to help someone you can't expect something back. You do it because you want to. It is hard to find a better sensation than when someone admires or compliments your work or help. You start to feel good about yourself. You make sure to help many others so that that experience happens again. You feel better, relieved that you could and did help. When somebody thanks me I feel happy, as it is a sincere confirmation that that person liked what you did. It also prepares you to happily help, when that person needs you again. Mariana Silva: When I receive a thank you I feel glad. I enjoy hearing this word, because it makes me feel better about myself. This holiday is the time to stop and reflect, to think about everything God gave us and give thanks to him. It is the time that we do not think about superficial objects; we give thanks to our family, friends, home, food, and our school.: In the USA and Brazil people are very grateful: they say thanks easily as they share what they have with each other. Every meal is coming together in gratitude for those around the table. I feel very grateful to be able to help my grandmother when she needs, especially when she is sick. Every time I help her, giving her the right medicine or getting a cup of water for her she says thank you and her thanks makes me feel useful at a certain moment. I always help my sister with her homework and try to clear her doubts. She listens to me, paying a lot attention to everything I say. After all I am her sister and I have the job of helping her, but when she understands she says thank you. This makes me feel important, because I helped someone that I love and she was really grateful for that help. Vinicius Araujo: I often feel very happy and grateful when someone says "thanks" due to an action I did. I feel useful. I usually help people in need, especially elders. The reason for that is because I know that I'll receive a "thank you" in exchange. It makes me better. Sean Yoshikawa: I agree that saying "thank you" is important. For me, to say "thank you" is not usual, so I sometimes forget to say it. After that, I always regret it. To say "thank you" can make someone feel happy and I also can feel happy. This word almost never makes anyone sad or angry. However, sometimes it is difficult say this word. For example, I'm a little bit embarrassed to say thank you to my parents. Maria Carolina Oliveira: When someone thanks me for something I feel good because I know I did something good, and I did something that made a person thankful. When I do something good to another person, I feel that I made someone happy, and this feeling is very good. I like to make and see people happy. That's why I’m always trying to help others. I think giving thanks is very Important because it is respectful. When a person does something good to you it means that the person likes you and wants to please you, so you have to be thankful for that. Giulia Ferrari: Yes, I am thankful to all the people that made a difference in my life. It doesn't matter if it was a positive or a negative difference. Either way they've changed my life somehow. This difference has made me the person I am, the decisions I take. John Paul Cilenti: Giving thanks to someone is a good way of clearing your conscience. It is a natural way of recognizing the actions of others. Even if it is not to a person directly, for example giving thanks every night for the food you have on the table and for having health and such, it is still a way of being thankful for your well-being. It is because of somebody somewhere in the world that the food is there: the tomatoes were picked by someone, your pork was butchered by someone, the water was extracted from somewhere. Rafaela Garritano: I think that "thank you" is such a simple word and such a meaningful one as well. It demonstrates the gratitude for something done, and it shows how nice a person can be. I mean, there is really a big difference between that one person that thanks you for doing him/her a favor, and the one that just ignores you and turn their backs on you. The one that is respectful will always gain people's attention, and be more likely to succeed. Laura Heringer: Showing you are grateful to someone is something you should consider because besides being a gesture of politeness, it is a great way of showing people their importance in your life. a simple "thank you" may brighten somebody's day. This is why Thanksgiving is very important. it is a special day to thank everyone you are grateful for, your dog, family, maid, door man, everyone! It might seem a bit stupid but people rarely remember to do these simple things. Happiness is enjoying the simple things in life. Selma Kuang: What do I feel when someone thanks me for something? There are some people that don´t even thank you when you do them a favor, even when it is a huge favor. But, when someone thanks me, I really feel happy, and sometimes I smile knowing that I did something right. Rodrigo Londres: Saying thanks to someone means that you actually do appreciate what others do for you. Saying thanks helps recognize the nice things others do, and it also makes others glad to hear someone thanking them for their nice attitudes. Camila Negreira: I see giving thanks as a way to showing concern to someone. When you give thanks you show the person that you appreciate what they did for you, it does not matter what it was. When someone thanks me for something I did, I feel like the person likes me and wants me to know that what I did was seen and appreciated. Giving thanks is important when it is really honest, because it is a great feedback for any kind of favor. It does not matter if the person helped you in your homework or saved your life, a thank you will be enough if truthful. Leonardo da Silva Oliveira: When someone who is doing a certain service receives thanks, he or she will believe that his or her work is appreciated and thus continuing to perform this job, only better and more enthusiastically. The already improved service being proved will satisfy yet another person, which will give thanks. This cycle creates a culture of gratitude and increases the level of happiness of the people involved in it. Even though Thanksgiving Day was not initially like it is nowadays, it is a holiday which reinforces and revitalizes this cycle and culture, which require only small actions but yield great rewards. Gabriel Westerberg: Giving thanks to someone is really good because the person you gave thanks to feels good about what they did and they will probably do more things for you. When someone thanks you for doing something, you feel happy because you did something good and you know that you were helpful. I was educated by my parents and family to always give thanks when people do something for me, whether it is my sister or a waiter in a restaurant. Paolo Amighetti: The idea of thanksgiving comes from almost 600 years ago when the Pilgrims celebrated with the native Indians the first year with plenty of food after a successful harvest with their help. Thanksgiving has become an important date for many people around the word, especially for the Americans who use the holiday as a major family gathering. For us in the twenty-first century, thanksgiving is meant to be a day of reflection over our life in general, but especially over the last year. It is the time when we evaluate what we have accomplished and what we have not. It is the time to make peace within ourselves and with others, and to use this understanding to correct wrong actions. It is also the time for making plans and setting goals. Above all thanksgiving is when we open our hearts and feel thankful for our family and friends, and for having a good education and plenty of food. Sara Lucia Hernandez Avila: Giving thanks to others is essential to having a virtuous human existence. When someone gives thanks, they are acknowledging that they are not self-sufficient, how others are important in their lives. Each human being has peculiar qualities that are used to benefit others, even if they don’t realize it. When people give them thanks they are able to see that they are making a difference in the world. This shows how every single individual is important in the system we live in. Many times when things are taken for granted we tend to forget to give thanks. We don’t realize their real value until the day that we don’t have them anymore. That day we will wish to go back to contemplate the splendid things we had. Alice Phipps: From the second we were able to speak, our parents have encouraged us (or maybe in some cases even forced) to say thank you. As a child (and sometimes even nowadays!), I used to hate saying thank you. What was the point? My aunts and mom's friends already knew I liked their gifts, so why did I have you write a thank you card? Of course, no matter how much I whined I still had to sit down and scribble on a card Thank you Aunt Sue for the lovely blah blah blah I love it! or something along those lines. Now I have to turn to my mom and give a thank you to her, for she taught me what the simple words thank you can do. Thank you works along with its sibling please to teach children to show people how grateful you are to have them. I like saying thank you now, because I say whenever I am grateful for a sweet person who holds a door for me when my hands are full, or when your brother takes his time to get up to get something you need. Saying the word thank you shows your gratefulness towards the people you live around who, though they can be a pain at times, make your life manageable with the little things they do. That is why thank you is such a small phrase, and yet it means so much. Luiza Osorio Guimarães da Silva: I think society nowadays has lost its ability and wish to express gratitude. There are exceptions, of course, but I feel like most people take what good they have in their lives for granted- family, friends, health, opportunities, everything. Don't get me wrong; I know I do that too, sometimes. It's hard to remember to thank everyone around you for everything you receive. I have to admit that sometimes receiving certain things from certain people is so commonplace and so automatic that I don't even think to thank them anymore. This is a terrible habit that I hope to change. I hope others can change it too. I know how I feel when I take the time to do something for someone else and it doesn't even cross their minds to say anything. Not a "thank you", or "I appreciate it". Nothing at all. Like I said before, I can't exactly blame these people for what they forget to do- I forget it often enough. What I can say, though, is that it hurts to not be acknowledged for what I've done. What makes me sad is that others most likely feel the same way I do, but don't bother to change their ways either. I feel happy and appreciated whenever someone thanks me, for whatever it is I did for them. It's important to show gratitude- after all, it's the only way to show that you appreciate what the person has done for you. Society would be much better if people remembered to thank each other. I know I would prefer it that way. Alessandra Sabra: Saying thanks is a way to make the other person recognize that you appreciate their actions. It doesn't only make the person feel happy, but it also makes you feel grateful for the deeds the person is offering you. It's known as good manners to thank people, for what they believe in, for what they are happy in having or receiving. Pedro Pompeu and Luiza Baptista: When someone thanks me for something it makes me feel like I've done something important. Everyone likes to be appreciated and saying thanks is a great way to show your appreciation. Those two words show that whatever you did meant something to someone. Raysa Bicalho Camara Santos: Whenever I help people a good feeling invades my heart, something tells me that I have fulfilled my goal with that person. I believe that little actions have a huge impact on people's lives. Little by little, every time someone thanks me, I gather this feeling and store it deep down in my heart. This is my secret to living happy.