The Greatness of Thank You, For 40+ Year Old’s Who Have Fallen on Hard Times
This is not the article that you think it is, yet in some ways…it is.
The power of the words “Thank You” will be discussed in their acceptable and comfortable context, which will present itself in due time.
However, I have found another use for the words “Thank You.” I have found the words thank and you as useful tools for discernment.
Let me briefly provide the accepted definition of the word discernment as provided by the etymology dictionary.
Discernment: Insight that goes to the heart of a subject, reads the innermost character.
In common terms, discernment is a way to separate the truth from a lie. So how do the words “Thank You” factor into this?
Well, I am going to tell you…and I will do so in such a way, that even a lonely homeless person can understand and then be able to find redemption, which will aid him on the road to the creation of a comeback in life. One that all of us can use no matter what our financial and mental states may be.
- A University Degree Does Not Guarantee Success…Choices Do
Despite my having a Master of Arts in Education, a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications and 13 years of experience as an educator, which included five years teaching English to native Arabic speaking students in the United Arab Emirates, I found myself in a strange place.
I found myself months after my return to the United States, living with relatives and having negative -$200 in my checking account and negative -$60 in savings in one of my banks and having my checking account closed and $3.00 in savings at the other bank.
I angrily had to accept that all of the money that I had accumulated pre UAE and post UAE was gone! To add to my pleasure, I was going through a divorce and I was 146 miles away from my two children, I was living in Augusta, GA, while they were living with their mother in Atlanta, GA.
My business/entrepreneurial ambitions were abruptly put on hold. Though I was eventually hired as a teacher in the Atlanta area, it took 11 interviews at 11 different schools and 6 months before a school found my experience “worthy” of being placed before new students. Hmmmmm…
Additionally, I was getting turned down for fun at employers such as the Boys & Girls Club, Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam’s Club, Dan’s Tire Recycle, various general labor positions at various warehouses and even temporary employment agencies decided to get in on the fun of denying me employment.
2. Being in Need is an Awful Feeing…Swallow on Your Pride
I borrowed money from only two family members, because I knew the others would never go for it and I hated asking anyway. Those two family members saw the condition of my unfortunate and difficult situation and the diligence of my effort to solve my problem.
One of those family members eventually stopped helping me, because they refused to believe that I could not find a job in Augusta. They believed that I must be doing something wrong, surely I should be able to find a job “doing something!?”
I wrote this while waiting for my number to be called at the Georgia Department of Human Resources in an effort to receive food stamps.
Yes, the mighty had fallen,
3. When Life Puts It’s Foot in Your Ass…
I went from exploring Dubai with my family and enjoying as I wished, to sitting in a hard wooden chair while looking around the room at single mothers, down and out parents playing with their little ones, old men, military veterans, tattoos, bonnets, Facebook on I-phones, loud colored wigs and hearing the inside tips of how to get more on your EBT card. Damn…
Nevertheless, this was the temporary circumstances that I found myself in, while waiting for all of my paperwork to be completed by the new employer, which took two months after signing a contract.
In the meanwhile, I was forced to live that existence and needless to say, explore the power of my mind and the results on not utilizing the full capacity of the mind. I suppose I needed to witness it, firsthand, not by word of mouth.
Yet, what does this have to do with the words “Thank You?” Yes, those wonderful words “Thank You.”
4. Feeling the Realness of Thank You…From the Bottom
Well, you see I am the kind of person who has always done what I could to help others. Be it a little or a lot. When my financial situation was blooming, I sent money back to the U.S. to pay a mortgage for a young adult to live in, while maintaining a family of four, which included a 7 year old and a 5 year old in the UAE.
Like Iceberg Slim would say, I got “Georgiaed.” Meaning played out, taken advantage of, flim-flammed and laughed at for good measure.
Though my situation had changed temporally and I had to live with relatives, who will not be named, I did what I could to be of use, it was only right.
I would cut the grass, wash dishes, vacuum around the houses, wipe down the furniture and if I cooked, I would always clean and put away whatever I used. It was not hard for me to do, because that is who I am anyway. It was not difficult for me to do such things.
However, I found that my efforts were not worthy of the words “Thank You.” Hmmmmmmmm….
I understood that I was not able to contribute to the paying of bills and that I needed to borrow funds from time to time. OK, at least once a week.
However, I felt that the lifetime of character and drive that I had shown would have made my circumstances at that moment seem as temporary as I knew them to be.
5. Family Members Can Be the Cruelest…The Gut Punch Feels Worst
In spite of that, it would appear that others saw things another way. Not even the sweat that dripped from my brow…pardon me I was distracted by this tattooed woman to my left at the welfare office complaining about not wanting to wait much longer…where was I, yes, not even the sweat from my brow, that was earned from the cutting of grass and trimming of yard bushes at the homes where I slept was enough to earn myself a “Thank You.”
I found this to be the case at both of the family homes where I was allowed to reluctantly stay, while I rebuilt my life.
The flipside of this situation once again was my average of a very comfortable thousand plus a month in pay and sending half back to the US via western union then direct deposit. Additionally, taking my family to various Emirates in the UAE flying on Etihad, Air France, KLM and Delta airlines with layovers in Paris and Amsterdam, while doing what I could to spend and save money wisely while struggling to convince someone else otherwise…whew!!!!
Nevertheless, instead of receiving a “Thank You,” for my efforts, often I was told that “What I was doing was what I was supposed to do.”
6. Hmmmmmm…So on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, I was forced to bear witness and learn several valuable lessons.
Shall I go threw them?
1. You have to be oh, so , careful in choosing whom to marry.
2. No matter how much good you do for some people, they will never appreciate it, even some family members.
3. The harder the fall, the more audacity of a person’s gall.
4. The unwillingness of a person to tell you “Thank You” when you have done a good deed says everything that you need to know about their character.
This selfishness is even more revealing when it comes from a spouse or family member as I have stated before.
It is a shame, yet it is loud, flashing warning sign.
The inability for the focus of your observation to tell you “Thank You,” tells you that you should not invest anymore of your energy or mental attention.
Though you can and should remain cordial.
Why? Because, I know that there are many people that are asking family, friends, looking for YouTube videos to find a solution to the angst that they experience, with doing good and not receiving the words “Thank You,” in their personal and professional lives.
7. I Loved When They Counted Me Out…Get Self Love
I have looked at the confusion of those days and the hours of self-analyzation and I told myself “Thank You.” I am Thankful for being able to see two extremes of life. I am Thankful for having lots of money and I am Thankful for having absolutely none.
I am Thankful for having the opportunity to go into the depths of my mind and to find the strength to continue to move forward, in spite of being in circumstances that I found stifling at times.
I was used to being free to do and buy anything I wanted
and then put in a position to not be able to buy more than store brand brown rice, chick peas, bar-b-que sauce and .69 cent a pound bananas and .89 cent bottled water, which was my diet for 9 months. Sometimes I could buy them all at once mostly, individually and then others occasionally.
9 months of development, maturation, self healing, study, planning, running and lifting weights at my uncles house, taking notes, observation, all which created a brand new ,better and financially astute Jassiri.
I endured something that made me a better man, a smarter man, a better father and much better judge of character.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You…
8. The POWER of Thank You…
These words should be given freely and received freely and for those that give… they are to be worthy of your trust for those that cannot…thank them for revealing their true nature.
I am Thankful for my new and limitless entrepreneurial opportunities. I am Thankful for a creative mind. I am Thankful for prosperity and abundance that goes past my imagination!
Special shout out…to the old bitter lady that “works” at the welfare office in Augusta, GA.
She had a sheet of paper piled high with empty peanut shells, as she chewed on peanuts and scrolled through her I-phone.
Yeah…Thank You for not helping me, for telling me “you can’t do nothing for me, and what you don’t have time for.”
Thank You for motivating me more!!!!
I don’t accept peanuts in life, I accept THE BEST!!! So should you!!!
Copyright 2019 Jassiri Nassor/Thought Elevation Ola
Jassiri Nassor is a Numerologist, Tarot reader, Writer and student of various disciplines of esoteric study. He utilizes Numerology and Tarot to assist individuals to move past uncertainty and limiting beliefs in order to realize their full potential on life’s spiritual journey. He can be contacted at info@thethoughelevation.com
