Thank My Lucky Stars

A Thank You Note

Good manners are very important not only because they are indicators of the kind of background you have but because they show humility and respect. Thank you’s even more so because they acknowledge and show appreciation for the effort someone made in contributing to your life. I had such a chuckle yesterday afternoon listening to an exchange between my 12 year old son and his 4 year old sister. She said: “Lihle I need water”. To which he said, “Ask me nicely and say please”. She said; “Lihle can you pour water for me, please and thank you”. I was really tickled by her getting both things out of the way as quickly as possible. She knew that if she didn't say please (humility) she wouldn’t get the glass of water and if she didn't add the thank you (appreciation) somewhere in there, she'd have to grovel again the next time she has to ask for something and it’s possible she wouldn't even get it.

I think the same is applicable to adult relationships. When you are thankful to the people who do you a good turn, that person is bound to be encouraged to do another one either for you or for someone else. But the even bigger impact is that you are bound to want to do a good turn for someone else. Thank you recognises the position of power that the thanked occupies and whether we are aware of this or not, when we give, we are powerful. As the old adage (to me and others a biblical truth) says, it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. You can only be a blessing if you are blessed....empowered to do so, in other words you have more than enough. I am able to give in my career today because I was given at some point but I don't really remember actually ever saying thank you to some of these people. I'm sure in my actions I showed my gratitude but that can be misconstrued as anything. And so I want to say a loud and heartfelt THANK YOU, to two of my former bosses:

Tina Kempshall: Tina was the QA manager for a telemarketing call centre (Home Choice) in my home town _ Cape Town early 2000. I don't know what made Tina take me in her team. I was in the call centre three months, it was my first job and I had nothing to offer academically but I like to think I had some raw talent. She took me on and doing QA and call monitoring gave me an opportunity to coach people to perform better. Tina was also the person I came to when I needed spiritual guidance, you see I

had just come to know Christ in those three months and all sorts of weird and mostly wonderful things were happening. I had no “Christian” support systems and she became that. I didn't know what I was doing at work but whatever it was it seemed to work. That was when I realised I had a gift for working with people. The more I interacted, the more I felt myself coming alive. This was a critical discovery that, unknown to me, would pave the rest of my career.

Two years later, I moved to Johannesburg and got employed at another call centre but this time in insurance.  I thank Tina because as a result of my time in her team, I knew I could not spend an unknown number of years in a call centre as a consultant. I had no money to study, a three year old boy to raise so possibilities were limited but with a high school diploma and loads of gumption, 6 months into the job I went to sell my so called abilities and potential to the then Head of training, Leonie Blatherwick. She took the bait, thank God and three months later I was hired as a trainer. That was the door to my educational development, without being given a chance by Leonie, I don’t know how else I could have been doing what I’m doing today.

And because of these two ladies, opening doors to somebody whom people saw as a nobody, I can now tell others that there is no such thing as a nobody. I have my qualification, never having paid a cent for it and I write my own checks.

So thank you, thank you, thank you, Tina and Leonie. I am somebody......forever indebted to my lucky stars.