When leaving a place that has become their every day, people usually take this space to thank their people. But a “thank you” has become one of the most overused phrases, so deeply embedded in our vocabulary that we forget it means anything. The simplicity of gratitude holds paramount importance in our lives; it is time to realize it, understand it and live it beyond a two-word phrase.
Gratitude is the strangest space of living, because as much as we long for it, we will never be able to fully indulge in its purest meaning. The moment you realize that you are not the protagonist of anyone’s story but your own is transcendent. Everyone around you wakes up every morning inside a life that’s as fun, exhausting and real as yours. They are not extras, not side characters orbiting around your narrative. They are whole people with hopes, fears and emotions you’ll never see. And yet somehow, you cross paths. The world does not revolve around you, but is shaped by you, just as you are shaped by it. And somewhere in that realm of in-between is where gratitude lives.
It’s honestly simple: people want to feel like they matter. It’s a hushed truth that lives under practically everything we do; for everyone, there’s an innate desire to be seen, valued, remembered. So the next time you say “thank you,” ask yourself why. Is it out of habit? Politeness? Or is it a reflection of real gratitude — an acknowledgment that someone, somewhere, made your life a little lighter or brighter?
At every leadership conference, I’ve left hearing the same message: as ASB President, you will never be thanked. It’s said with a knowing laugh, like it’s a rite of passage. It stuck with me, not because I found it discouraging, but because I realized what it clarified. I learned that showing up is the truest way to appreciate. In the context of my past four years, I’ve come to learn that presence is a present. It’s choosing to support someone with fewer words and more with community. I’ve seen how actions speak louder, how they touch closer to the heart than any speech or lecture ever could. Meeting people from different states, cities and stories taught me this: gratitude finds its truest meaning when it touches people in the way they most need to be seen. Leadership may never guarantee recognition, but it does hand us a beautiful challenge to think and to thank others better and more intentionally. That’s a mission I find worth leading.
It’s being that presence without needing recognition, like weight without form. We rarely realize its force until something falls apart and we feel its absence. Think about the people in your life who haven’t been told lately that they’re appreciated. Think about the teacher who still remembers your name among hundreds of students, the friend who sends you reels they think you’ll like, the distant family member who calls you to check in. Think about how much people crave affirmation and genuine acknowledgment.
And then act on it. Not because you’re supposed to or because it’s good etiquette, but because everyone, at their core, wants to know they’ve made a difference, even if it’s just in one person’s day. We’re taught the Golden Rule as kids: treat others the way you want to be treated. But somewhere along the way, that lesson becomes passive — another thing we say but rarely encapsulate. Real gratitude is the active version of that rule. Gratitude starts with the self, but not in a selfish way; you choose how to treat people, and you choose whether your words and actions carry weight. It’s easy to forget how much a single act can thread together into something so beautiful
Influenced by the love I’m surrounded by, I live each day guided by gratitude, trying to reflect the same endearing energy my sister, parents, grandparents and friends have always shown me. I may never be able to entirely express how deeply I love the people in my life, but I devote every day to trying — you never know when you’ll lose the chance to show them. And that’s what I believe gratitude really is: a way of living. Let your gratitude be intentional. Let it show meaning. Let it be real.
