The Importance of Saying: “You’re Welcome,” by Joseph Anthony

The Importance of Saying:

“You’re Welcome”

By

Joseph Anthony


We have all
experienced saying “thank you” to someone only to have them say, “No, thank you,” in return. Or they keep the “no”
out of it and just say, “thank you.”  Why would people essentially refuse our
thanks?  Why would we ever refuse someone
else’s thanks? In this season of exchanging gifts let’s take a few moments to
look closer at the words: “You’re welcome.” 
 For just as giving thanks for
yourself, your family and friends, and for the Divine is important–welcoming
oneself and all of these beloveds is perhaps even more so.

Using the
ever handy Online Etymology Dictionary we find that “welcome,” comes from the
Old English, wilcuma, which literally means, “one whose coming is according to
another’s will.”  And this comes from combining
the Old English words, “willa,” meaning “pleasure, desire, or choice” and
“Cuma,” meaning “guest (ibid).” 
“Welcome” didn’t become attached to “thank you,” until the early
1900’s.  Before that it was used as an “exclamation
of kindly greeting. (ibid).”

So when
someone arrives in our presence and gives us a gift, or holds the door for us,
or we do the same for them and we both exchange: “thank you’s,” and “you’re
welcome’s,” we are celebrating the sharing of a space.  It is an intimate moment of receiving another
into our wills, our pleasures.  It is an
open reception in which we invite them into our desires and likewise we get a glimpse
of theirs. 

Of course, one
needs to be secure in who they are to invite someone into their midst, if even
just for a fleeting moment.  To welcome
someone into your presence means inviting the risk of rejection, it means a
sprinkling of vulnerability added to the spice of life.  In other words part of the key of learning to
say “you’re welcome,” to another person is learning to say it yourself.  Of course if we waited until we had that
lesson down perfectly we might never say it to another.  But this learning to welcome yourself into
yourself and out into the world around you (and within you) is a lifelong
journey.  And it begins in the mirror and
continues in the space of your own heart and in the fierce and tender
acceptance of your own talents and dreams.  And it goes further.

Imagine
living a life in which how and what you did was consciously in accord with your
own will and desires, your own choices and pleasures.  That’s the goal, isn’t it?  That’s how we walk in freedom.  And this all spirals back to self-love and
self-acceptance.  It returns to the core
of our being in love with our own dreams and desires.  And to do this, we must know them, we must
know ourselves.  

And who are
we? 

Stars.  Stars illuminated with the grace of Divine
expression.

And what are
our dreams and desires? Parts of that same Light—songs, if you will—living,
breathing songs, meant to be sung for the good and pleasure of ourselves and
all. 

So when we
give thanks to the Creator and wait for the “you’re welcome,” why not give it
to yourself as if spoken directly from the mouth of God?

The Divine
doesn’t need our praise.  It doesn’t need
us to go around saying “thank you, thank you” for everything that happens or
doesn’t happen.  The praise makes us feel
good, for there is joy in giving.  We
also feel good because inwardly we realize we are part of the creative power
making it all happen.  And so we come to
know there is joy in receiving.  But
instead of simply saying the words, let us live our lives as expressions of
thanks by accepting and singing our Heart’s Desires.

As a parent,
I know I like it when my children say “thank you,” but to need them to say it
over and over keeps them obliged in a sick and twisted way.  What I want my children to do is have
fun.  To go play.  To go share and develop whatever it is that
I’ve given them as their father.  I want
them to go and transform it into their own. 
To expand upon it.  To recycle
it.  I do not need their constant
thanks.  But I digress.  This post is about welcoming one another and
ourselves in each other’s worlds; into each other’s space.  My point is, I believe the Divine wants us to
do the same.  Receive this gift of life
and go play.

This Holiday
Season, let us realize who we are and how we have been welcomed into the world
and into the song of the Divine. Let us give one another thanks and
welcoming.  Let us give these to
ourselves.  Let us give a hearty welcome to
our outrageous and wonderful dreams and help each other make them come true.  Let us dance in the glory of both giving and
receiving; of being a part of the Birth of Infinite Love that arrives in each
of us a child, a being of possibility and wonder, waiting to sing through us and
with us, the song of the stars.






 

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog

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