We all need favors every now and then. Maybe your car broke down and you need a ride to school…the hot water in your apartment is shut off for a week so you need a place to take a hot shower…or you need to borrow five bucks to pay for the food you just ordered before realizing you forgot your wallet.

The severity of a favor ranges. Sometimes they’re major, sometimes they’re minor. However, even the minor one’s start adding up.

I am blessed with the most generous and kind-hearted friends and family EVER. I know that I can count on them no matter what. I try to show them appreciation often because they deserve it. Whether its big or small, doing something for someone is a big deal. They are taking time out of their precious lives to make yours a little easier. One of the worst feelings is when you feel like you’re being taken for granted. Like you’re being used and disrespected. It’s frustrating and it takes everything out of me when I start feeling that way. I use that as my fuel to make sure everyone I care about never feels that way from something that I did. We often forget to say thank you and show some gratitude. We get caught up in the craziness of life and neglect to do something that seems so small but has such a huge impact. I don’t do nice things for people for the karma or for the thank you. I do them because I want to. But I’ll admit that sometimes it would be nice to not feel like a doormat; I don’t deserve to be trampled over. The interesting thing is that it doesn’t hit you right away. You don’t truly start to feel unappreciated until it piles up and explodes. You’re on automatic, putting everyone else before you and then BOOM. You’re drained. You don’t know how to handle it. You feel guilty for being upset because it makes you think you’re a bad person. You don’t even know where to begin.

If we all became a little more conscious of how our actions affected others, there wouldn’t be a BOOM. There wouldn’t be anymore “taken for granted” feelings. There would be love, appreciation and graciousness.

Say thank you. It has a much bigger impact than you think.