A few weeks ago I asked everyone to confess to something. Then last week I asked you to describe you last big lie.
Both of the posts resulted in hundreds of comments. This week I thought it might be good to do something a tad more positive.
Research shows that people get a psychological boost from saying ‘thank you’ to someone that has helped them. So that is what we are going to do…..I want everyone to write a short ‘thank you’ to someone who has made their life better. It might be your partner, friend, parents, work colleagues, or indeed anyone. It might be something big or small. Feel free to mention them by name or keep it anonymous.
Oh, and to see if this makes people feel better please vote in the little poll.
OK, here we go….who would you like to thank and why?
Richard Wiseman 
I’d like to thank my parents for putting up with me and loving me more than I deserve.
And this doesn’t make me feel better because I’ll never have it in me to tell them in person.
lmao. uh oh. I just realized mine is the first post and such a downer. so much for “something more positive”. Sorry Richard! — I feel like such a party pooper 🙂
I think I made up for it, noamgr. 😉
Who says you have to tell them in person? Leave them a note. Do something good for them/the household without being asked. Get/make them a ‘just because’ gift.
But even if you do none of that… Parents know. 🙂
I would like to (and have!) thank my friend Mark (and his business partner Roger) for being a huge positive influence (directly and indirectly) in my life these past 2.5 years. For helping me overcome problems, improve my health, and “own” one of my strongest & longest-lasting interests. For reigniting my interest in psychology, which eventually took me back to school. For taking me up on my offer to help their newest website, giving me genuine copyediting experience (and for “paying” me in training I’ve been wanting to take since I first stumbled across their company). For listening to me ramble, both in email and in person. For random compliments. For taking time out to visit with me when I’m in the UK. For agreeing to provide me my first one-to-one hypnosis experience (and it was great!). …I could go on!
AND for introducing me to Prof Wiseman! (via a review of “Quirkology”)
And yes, all this positive reflection does make me feel better. 🙂
An easy one. A huge thank you to my boyfriend for standing shoulder to shoulder when others would have walked away. There, I have said it.
Hummmm……thanks to my dog, Mr Chips. He give me a reason to live everyday.
Thank you to my boyf and son always there for me boyf supportive and holding son just a joy to be mum to you make me soooohhhh proud xxx And thank you to you Richard for a great blog. xxxx
I would like to say thank you to some people who i had never met before until last Saturday, when they gave me such a great opportunity to do something i really enjoy.
I thank you greatly! x x
Thank you Gary Pears, one of my primary school teachers, for broadening my horizons and improving my confidence.
Thank you Mrs Bird, the old lady who live across the street from me when I was a kid, for taking me under your wing and treating me as a grandchild.
Thank you Mum and Dad, for giving me a love of learning and the skills I’d need in life.
Than you to my old boss, for teaching me a little wisdom in my career.
Thank you Susan St Clair, for being my best friend in High School and always being there for me.
Thank you all the girls living in the Life and Hope Association’s “PAGE” house in Siem Reap, Cambodia. You gave me the best month of my life when I lived with you. You showed me so much love, and also such a great fun time. It was just what I needed before finally being booted out into the world of adulthood; it was inspiration. I realised that for the first time in a long while, my life was worth it just for how happy I was, personally. That month in your house was ‘golden time’. You also all inspired me to find funds for your university and this has, and continues to be, probably the most empowering and heart-warming pursuit I’ve ever been involved with. I wouldn’t have done that if it weren’t for you, Nheuorm, in particular. Thank you so much for making me smile, love, be loved and be happy!
To my hubby, my boys, my family and my friends. Thank you for being you.
Tomorrow, the 2nd October would have been my friend, julian’s 30th birthday. Unfortunately he died when he was 17. His mum,Di, dreaded his birthday coming around. Until 9 days ago when she decided she’d like to make this birthday more positive. She suggested that on the 2nd we all show our appreciation and thanks to people that do brilliant jobs or everyday things that aren’t appreciated for it.
I then set up a facebook group “smile for Julian day” so that anyone could join. We’ve had an amazing response from people all over the world and in just a week we have 128 members in our group. They span 30 countries!
I’d like to thank them for joining, for making Di very happy and for wanting to take part. It means that a day, usually filled with sadness will be tinged with smiles and thank yous all around the world.
I’d also like to thank Di, for being the most amazing, strong and positive person especially after she has been faced with so many. Difficult challenges
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Thank you to myself for working so hard, but we still have a few more weeks to go, so hang in there.
Thank you to my friend A for making me laugh, for not undermining my ability and for your presence. You brighten up my day, thank you ami.
I’d like to thank Martin for the last 23 years. I love him and thank God he puts up with me and hasn’t ran off with a sane person. And it’s his birthday today, so thank you again, wee burfdy boy. x
Thanks to Richard, and other authors, for filling my brain with so many interesting insights and stories.
I would like to thank my husband for being there for me through everything, encouraging and pushing me when it was needed, being a shoulder during rough times, my best friend and a generally wonderful person. I can’t imagine anyone else standing with me through everything that we have been and will go through, and I am thankful every day.
I would like to thank my colleague V for sharing the load and being the only sane member of our team. Since she joined us, my working life has been immeasurably better.
Thankyou to my woman for putting so much thought and energy into making my life more liveable after only having known me for such a short time!
Funny enough, I’d mustered up the courage to say thank you to a YouTube personality I admire (Thunderf00t) and thanked him for all his great work and wonderful videos, before I’d seen this post. I have to say, at this time I feel a bit anxious because I thanked a total stranger and I hope he doesn’t think I’m a big dweeb.
I love these kinds of coincidences!
Did you see my post above? That friendship exists because I emailed a total stranger with a funny little anecdote 2.5 years ago. He shocked me by writing back, I wrote back, he wrote back…
Sometimes really good things can come from reaching out to total strangers! 😉
Yup! I met my husband that way. He said something witty on newsnet and I sent him a reply telling him I’d marry him one day. Truth.
Thank you Mr. Vivian, for your support through a difficult time.
Thank you Helen for giving me the confidence to achieve my dreams.
Thank you Tiffany, for being my friend even though I’m so grumpy I probably don’t deserve you. 😛
Thank you Phill, for being an awesome yet slightly terrifying lecturer. You also helped me to get where I am today.
Thank you Robo, for literally helping me get where I am today – helping me move house when I got the job after uni! And for being a fantastically happy and easygoing friend who always makes me smile.
Thank you Piran for being a great friend.
Thank you mum and nan for bringing me up well.
Also, thank you Charlie for being my best friend. So much a part of who I am that I forgot to thank you in the first place. In case you don’t know, I think the world of you.
To my mum for putting up with my winging and vomiting and doing everything she could to make me feel better. No one makes you feel better when your sick than your mum.
I’d like to thank my parents for always being there for me when I need them. 🙂
I’d like to thank my Dad, Obsessive, Orwellian and controlling though he may get, he’s paying for my entire university tuition and the weekly cost of living, while asking for nothing in return, as much as I wish he would be a bit more relaxed, he’s been an invaluable help to me throughout these first two semesters. We do argue a fair bit, but I have no idea where I’d be without him.
For the opposite reasons I’d like to thank my mum – she’s been emotionally supportive, very kind in terms of giving my lifts to and from Uni, saving me bus money and just generally been there for me where my Dad is rather distant. She can’t contribute much financially, being a struggling artist of sorts, but she makes life at home far more pleasant than it would be otherwise.
I probably wouldn’t tell my Dad that, but I thank my mum fairly often, and I’m not sure I feel good writing it down, given that it’s so qualified and ‘apologetic,’ but I reckon I should have it on record somewhere, even if that somewhere is a blog he’ll never read or probably even hear of. I guess there’s an element of contentment here at least so I’ll vote better
I want to thank my parents. They have supported and encouraged me nonstop and I don’t know where I would be without them. They have kept me sane and have always told me to do what I thought was right and never let me get down about myself or my abilities. I love them!
Thank you Ray for being my best friend.
Thank you Vari for being my daughter.
Thank you Emma, Jamie, Sean, SG and Angel for being there.
Thank you Phil and Dougie for your friendship.
Thank you Gee for everything.
Thank you Rox for picking us.
I love you all ❤
I’d like to thank my family for always being there when I needed them. They have supported all my mischief, all the trouble I have caused them and me as well. I only feel a little sad for not having the guts to say this to them directly.
My thanks goes to my husband. I was wishing to buy a MP4 with ebook function with a little money I earned. But, there were not more to sell on the stores. So, he gave me his better cell phone (gps, ebook, music, photo & video camera) to me. 🙂
My thanks goes to my mom. Just talking to her this morning made my day better. I am glad she is still around and that we talk regularly without arguing (usually).
I want to give a big “thank you” to my girlfriend, Keri, for supporting me through times when a lesser woman would have wilted. She is truly an inspiration to my life.
I would like to thank my husband for being so loving and supportive over the years, especially the last few. I feel very grateful to have you so thank you!
I have a small group of friends who are awesome and always there for me. I’m glad they’re them, so I would like to thank them for it.
Came across this inspiring ThankYou a few days ago (source see link):
I am thankful….
For the taxes that I pay,
Because it means that I am employed.
For the mess to clean after a party,
Because it means that I have been surrounded by friends.
For a lawn that needs mowing,
Windows that need cleaning,
And gutters that need fixing,
Because it means that I have a home.
For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot,
Because it means I am capable of walking
And that I have been blessed with transportation.
Or my huge heating bill
Because it means I am warm.
For the lady behind me in church that sings off key,
Because it means that I can hear.
For the pile of laundry and ironing,
Because it means I have clothes to wear.
For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day,
Because it means I have been capable of working hard.
For the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours,
Because it means that I am alive.
And finally…….
For all the e-mails I receive each day,
Because it means I have friends who think of me.
Thanks Mom and Dad for paying for my college.
Thank you to the garbage men of the world. Most of us think as little as possible about the trash, dreading all that the chore entails. But living somewhere that garbage men do not visit your house makes one acutely aware of how much service they really provide. Thank you all for dirtying your hands so our homes can be clean. 🙂
Thank you, Ca, for having sex with me.
Thank you to Lili Mc D for rescuing the child I accidentally locked in the house when I left for work this morning – and for picking up the other two from school!
Thanks Mom and Dad, you are angels. Thanks CK for loving this crazy gal. Thanks everyone else because you’ve made me who I am. Thanks to God because He makes me what I can be.
And thank you, A, for being the most wonderful, sincere, real person I have ever met, and for privileging me with you presence. Thank you so much for putting out with me, and helping me recovering from last year.
Thank you, V, for everyday showing me how humble and moral people can be. Everyday you amaze me, and you are by far one of the most intelligent persons in my life. You inspire me and make me be a better person.
Both you guys makes my days worth going through, I can’t tell you enough. I love you and you will always have a special place in my heart.
Thank you to the love of my life for putting up with me for almost 7 years. I guess in the end I wasn’t good enough for you.
I want to thank Kym and Ben and Tracee, and everyone else who has helped me find a home in St. Louis.
I’d like to say thank you to my best friends for being fabulous and gorgeous people. It doesn’t matter how long goes without seeing them or speaking to them they are four people who are always ‘there’. However many months or years go by it seems our friendship will survive any changes and we’ll stick with each other through thick and thin. I am very lucky to have four people I can say that about.
Two of them live in the UK, but both in different places about 4 hours away from here. Another in Germany. And the other has just moved to Australia. When they were close by I sometimes took them for granted, now they are further away I miss them so much.
So a big thank you to Catherine, Suzi, Liz & Eleanor. You ladies are the best!!! x x x
I want to say thank you to my mom, grandma, brother, some friends and a few peoples that… (i dont know how to say this in english so… :p) estão sempre perto de mim, me aceitam como eu sou e por quem eu sou, que estão perto para comemorar nos bons momentos e também quando um apoio é necessário para dar a volta por cima…
Thank you for everything!
Love all 🙂
I’d like to thank God that I’m an Atheist.
I’d like to thank a Psychological Therapist called Tim, whose gentle guidance and patience has probably saved my life.
I would like to thank my ex boyfriend, Corey.
He was there for me when I thought no one else would. And even through everything he’s still there for me to this day. Thanks for everything you’ve done for me.
I would like to thank my neurologist for saving my life in a quite literal sense. Furthermore, I would like to thank my family and friends, who have shaped me for better or worse into who I am.
Hm, I dont think that will boost me. I can see why it might boost some, but nope, wont work for me. Actually .. who I dont need to thank in my life .. that is more upclose to me. I think at times the gratefull feeling you might experience when you think of stuff/people should not always be told but kept inside. To remind you. Once you let it out, you at times wont feel it anymore and it will no longer remind you. Once put out via reason it’s sort of gone. Don’t empty yourself too much. Goes for part of the population. The others probably can’t say it enough.
Oh, and hopefully, if you really have reason to be thankfull .. you sort of showed that already.
General stuff, not related to a person/people? Hm ..
Small thank you’s .. and big thank you’s. The latter is what triggers the most.
I feel so much better now having said that. Thank you.
I want to say thanks to my favorite Japanese actor, Kenji Matsuda. He’s not the most famous, or most talented, but for some reason I find him completely inspiring and everything he does puts a stupid smile on my face. I took up acting because of him, which helped pull me out of depression, get an extremely rewarding job, go back to school, and find my passion for all things theatre-related.
So what if he’s just some guy from Japan whom I’ll never meet – he makes me smile, and sometimes that makes all the difference in the world.
Thank you mom, thank you dad.
Oh, someone just reminded me .. how could I forget .. all my animals around me here .. they truely fullfill my self (inside). They showed me all ins and outs of myself. How truely small my self can be in their presence. How soft they can be when you’re not on anymore and deeply depressed. The eyes of a kakariki can be then in my inside without depressing me or triggering my mind.
They make my house feel warm, and myself. And force me to step out of that same self so much more often than I ever had thought I could. I need to be the adult, whereas I’m not that grown all the time either. When one is dying and the other fuck up due to that, get confused or scared (as they lived together quite long) .. it’s me who seriously needs to step on top of that emotional self in myself. So, they made me go deep but made me go up again as well. All the time.
That they were and are here. They tutored me in my other self. The one that was not capeable to see someone inside (in me). To connect in that way. I could not have connected in such a way to humans anymore, it’s the child that still did not get out, had not experienced close up human nature inside. But it did in a specific life phase.
I’d like to thank my best friends. They’ve stuck by me through aspects of my life which no friends have ever dared acknowledge before them. Everytime I think I’ve lost them, I have a go at them and later worry that they hate me because I’ve been so awful… but no, they always forgive me and understand how I feel. It’s amazing. I’ve never met three more wonderful girls, and I feel blessed to have them in my life. I thank them for being my pilars of strength – if it weren’t for them, a lot of the happiest moments in my recent life would never have happened, if I even made it through the darker times without them… which I doubt I would’ve.
So thank you, Harvie, Nazish and Nileema. I love you more than words can say. I only hope that my friendship is strong enough with you to last many more years to come.
I want to thank my highschool band director for tricking me into the best four years of my life.
If you hadn’t written Marching Band onto my schedule I would not be the person I am today. I wouldn’t have half of the friends or even a smidgen of the wonderful memories that I gained. I wish I could go back in time because I know I wouldn’t change a thing and I would gladly re-live every heart warming and heart breaking moment.
Thank you so much. I can only hope I get to say this all in person one day.
I want to thank the unnamed person who returned my purse at the train station in Nara, Japan, without removing any money or articles. I have been told that bringing that purse to the police box at the train station is very expected in that culture, but it was regardless a very selfless gesture that I never got the chance to thank them for…
I would like to thank Derren Brown for not going to the BBC, otherwise I would have never discovered his wonderful work on 4OD. I’ve had a rubbish 5 months at work, a job I once put everything else on hold for and allowed to consume me because I once enjoyed it. During that horrible time time thanks to Derren I have rediscovered my former passion for psychology, as well as the pursuit for further knowledge and learning in general. I’ve also picked up a few new interests along the way. Being smart, creative, and curious was something I’d become ashamed of. I am pleased to say that I have resumed my journey of discovery and I’d like to thank Derren for unintentionally and inadvertantly rattling my cage 🙂 I feel alot more content.
I’d like to thank a friend of mine help me cope during my mother’s illness. She was a wealth of support.
I would like to thank my husband, Christian, for being such a positive influence in my life and for his unquestioning and unconditional love! He has done so much for me in the 8 years I have known him, 6 years of which we have been together and 5 years of which we have been married. He helped me cope through a very difficult time. He is amazing. He is not only just my husband he is my best friend!
I would like to thank J, for being wonderful, and for spending a portion of her valuable time with me, of all people. It really means a lot to me.
I can only repay it with undying loyalty.
So lucky to have such wonderful children so would like to thank them just for being them.
Didn’t make me feel any different posting it on here as I tell them that often anyway.lol.
I would like to thank Astrid Lindgren and Alexander McCall Smith for writing / having written books that put a smile on my face even when I am in the foulest of moods.
Thanks A. for being there when I needed someone to be there. Thanks for being helpful and showing me around and cheering me up yesterday. I really appreciate it. I love you 🙂
I want to thank my Ex girlfriend for the 7 wonderful years. Even though we don’t love each other any more it was a fantastic time!
I would like to thank Zak for being in my life.
Thank you Nola Ferrell, my 6th grade teacher, for keeping up with me. Thank you for scheduling and rescheduling the scholarship interview and also for telling me to go to ASU.
Nola Ferrell was my 5th and 6th grade teacher. She had more impact on me than any other school teacher from K to 12.
Thank you Oscar for being such a good friend to me!, God bless you forever
Thank you Ani