As children, we were taught please and thank you. The number one thing my parents really pushed was that “thank you”. It was a way of showing you were grateful, a way to make someone feel good. It was/is Important. I remember constantly as a kid saying thank you, for even the smallest of gestures from anyone.
Now, we are adults. So why do we not follow the same rules?
This past week, I had a conversation with one of my favorite people in the world, said something that as an adult female, I have been told many many times by different “dating gurus” and she had heard the same…
“People always tell me not to thank people for the bare minimum but you should as it’s the little things that count”
To which I raised the roof (& my glass of champs) and cheered a loud YES/Thank you/ Praise tha lord girl, you get it!
Cold Hard Truth
Now, Let me explain, in the most truthful fashion, why I found this statement SO important.
I spent years, with a boy, who wiped out our savings for drugs more than once. That left me borrowing money from my parents to pay bills, get gas, and a lot of times they took me grocery shopping. I told no one, out of pure embarrassment.
- So I thank Houston, (my husband) for running any big money purchases by me, and I do the same. So that I’m not wondering about large cash transactions. I thank Houston, for paying our bills, filling my car, and checking groceries before we go into hobbies. I thank him, for never touching our savings, and planning for bigger and better things with that money. (Charleston Living-we’re coming for you soon enough)
I spent time, with someone to whom I could not bring my hurt feelings. It turned into it being an argument, being told I was stupid, that I was lying, or being made fun of as being “such a baby”
- So I thank Houston, for listening to me. For not yelling at me, for not making fun of me for being upset by things, no matter how little they may be. I thank him for understanding that I do tend to over-explain, repeat myself, and talk too much. And he has never once, raised his voice, lost his cool, or walked away from a serious conversation.
- So, I thank Houston daily, (sometimes hourly) for spending time with me, for getting up when I get up, for talking to me, for asking about my day, for making plans for us to go grab lunch/dinner/ thrift together. I thank him, for everything he does to be near me. No matter how little or big.
- So, this week, I looked my husband in the face, after explaining and showing some things that no one knew about that relationship, some proof I’ve held onto and kept private… (that will never ever be revealed) And (while his jaw hung in shock) I thanked him, for being Normal. For bringing a life of normal to me. A life that, I always knew where my spouse was, and I never had to wake up alone, and panic. For just being him. For never being a man, I had to lie for or about to my friends and family.
Yes, you read it right.
I Thanked Houston … for just being Normal. Is it sad? Maybe a little. But is it also very refreshing? 1023475 times YES.
Because let me tell you, (and I can hear all my single ladies yelling “YES MA’AM”) … finding normal in this day and age, the day of “let me facebook message my ex”, the day of drugs at any given moment, the day of relation-shits and situation-ships. Finding normal is so hard.
And I get that, I understand.
But when you do find your normal. Remember this post. And remember- to thank your partner, no matter how small. It reminds them that you notice them, the small gestures they do for you, you see that they are trying in a world that sometimes is so easy to just give up in. They are trying.
So thank them- for ALL the bare minimums. Because if I have learned anything since I was 19 years old- it’s that not everyone you meet/date/come across… is going to even give you the bare minimum. So, find the one that does, give you that and even more, think back to your past, and realize that you really are thankful.
Written by Sarah Houston
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Houston Had a Problem
Featured Image by Daniel Andrade on Unsplash
