How Giving Thanks Can Change the Future
I have revisited this video from Thanksgiving 2015 because, it does such a nice job of illustrating how giving thanks can affect not only the present but the future as well. The example is the thanks I received from speaking to the musical theater and acting departments at Texas State University. My youngest, Niky was a student at the time and given that my passion is to help people deal with stress, I offered to come and present my “Life from the Top of the Mind” seminar to anyone who was interested.
As it turns out almost everyone was very interested due to the stress of being a student in the arts. In other words, going to school for a degree that is not going to guarantee you a job as well as the stress of auditions, rejection, the uncertainty of the future, plus the normal stress of being a college student had most of them experiencing a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety.
That being said, they were a bit skeptical at first, probably because they had been exposed to the typical “stress management” material that seems to proliferate the internet.
Once they learned that this was not your typical “don’t worry, be happy” advice, however they became enthusiastic and engaged and sent me many thank you letters letting me know how much they enjoyed and learned from the experience.
This video is evidence of their appreciation and it spurred me to rewrite my “Life from the Top of the Mind” book and gear it toward students in the arts. As a result of all of this enthusiasm, I was asked to present this seminar that I called “Freeing the Artistic Mind” to schools around the country.
This became one of my most rewarding experiences because, just with the students in Texas State, those in Carnage Mellon, Elon, Otterbein, Rider, Oklahoma University, Texas University and many others reported finding this material life changing and were most gracious in their thanks as well.
In this time of thanksgiving and through out the year, I encourage you to think about what and who you are grateful for, and to be sure to let those people know how you feel. Because, as you can see, expressing thanks can have far reaching effects. It not only creates a stronger bond between those you love, but also gives impetus to future loving thoughts and behaviors as well.
And, in addition, unlike so many of the “gifts” of the season, it costs absolutely nothing. Not a bad return on investment don’t you think?
~ All the best, Dr. Bill