Remember to say thank you...

I've been spending a lot of time out on the road lately, driving all over this part of the state visiting school sites and collecting data for my research. Sometime last week I was speeding down the freeway, feeling a little stressed because I was running about 5 minutes late, and this red truck in front of me was going so slow I had no choice but to read the decal on the back of his truck. What I saw made me smile, calmed me down, and reminded me how important it is to have perspective...

The decal said "Remember to say thank you" and was accompanied by two silholutte (how do you spell that word, anyway?) figures - a man and a horse - bowing their heads. In the background was the outline of a large hill with a cross on the top of it. Even though I don't consider myself an incredibly religious person, I felt that the message on the back of this truck was one that I needed to see, to internalize, and to remember.

So often we go through our days, forgetting just how incredibly blessed we are in our lives in so many ways. To me, striving for a life of greater simplicity is as much about giving thanks as it is about anything else. I think it was Gandhi who said that we should live simply so that others can simply live. I know that if I live a simpler life, through both clearing away the external clutter and enriching my inner sense of peace, I am - in my own way - saying thank you. 

I am saying thank you to my parents who taught me, through example, that people and relationships are more important than things... I am saying thank you and acknowledging that I have everything I really need, and that there are those in the world who don't, and that the more responsibly I live and the more generously I live, the more hope I am creating for people whom might be in greatest need of that hope.

Peace is possible, change is possible, and today - as much as ever - I know it's important for me to remember that and to say thank  you to all who have taught me those things through both their words and their actions.