Gratitude for the Cup of Coffee

This week I watched a TED talk about one man’s quest to show gratitude for the cup of coffee he has in the morning everyday on his way to work. He wanted to say thank you to everyone involved in growing, processing, delivering and finally pouring it for him. This turned out to be a major undertaking and he actually did quite a lot of travelling to fulfill his quest. Generally his efforts were well received, but occasionally he got a strange reaction from some people who felt that something suspicious was happeneing. Even when he explained, they didn’t seem to really understand and certainly didn’t appreciate his efforts.

And I was thinking, what an indictment that is on modern society, firstly that we dont show nearly enough gratitude, so that when someone is truly appreciative we are somewhat taken aback and secondly that there are people who regard expressions of gratitude with suspicion.

I know we live in a world where the pace of life is generally hectic, hectic enough to cause us to believe that we just don’t have the time to show the gratitude we feel or at least should feel. So I’m going to encourage everyone to work on this. As a child, I was taught that saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ was an essential part of everyday life and to forget to say those “magic” words was unforgivable. I still actually enjoy being polite and thankful to people and for the most part people seem to appreciate it. But there are those around us who never experience that little tingle of satisfaction that comes from just being nice to others. The person in the car, whom you allow to enter the lane in front of you and doesn’t doesn’t thank you. Or someone for whom you hold open the door, (now its become a sexist battle ,when did that start!) You know, the little everyday things maybe we don´t think about. The things that don´t really matter.

But just think if it did matter, if somehow our lives depended on the level of gratitude we show. Goodness me, what a change that would produce! We would then all be bending over backwards to thank everyone for every little thing. Ok I know that sounds silly, but take a moment to imagine how much nicer your day might be if people showed their gratittude for something you did, or for your job, or any little thing you do for someone, whether our nearest or dearest, or total strangers. Wouldn´t that be ever so much nicer? Wouldn´t it make your day a at least a little bit lighter?

If sincerity is added, it could make the whole day feel that its been a worthwhile day. Yesterday, someone did that for me, just took the time to personally and sincerely thank me for the classes I,d given. It was a talking point when I got home, because it made me feel so appreciated.

And in the end isn´t that what we all want? To feel that someone notices and values us? As humans we have this inbuilt need to be loved. And whilst we may feel that we just can´t love everyone, making someone´s day a little better can’t be a bad thing, can it?

App-Addicts Anonymous

Will we one-day soon see this title as a sign posted in shop windows, newspapers and internet pages? If it isn’t already?



Almost any quick or basic internet search these days, may quickly lead you to the answers you seek, but immediately you enter a web site you are offered the service you have been seeking all your life! Yes, you can now download the app of your dreams: you can instantly know what take-out eating places deliver straight to your door; what the prices are in your local dry cleaners who will then pick up your items at the clic of the mouse; or do you want to know what flight prices are for a trip to Outer Mongolia? Yes folks, its all there. No catch, honest!



Well, there may be a slight catch, just a miniscule totally non-important one.



All these wonderful instant-access apps come with quite a hefty price tag, actually. It’s knowledge. Not the knowledge you want to know (book an appointment directly for Fluffykins to get a luxury pet-pampering), but in fact the knowledge will be flowing almost entirely in the other direction. We all know that any internet site we visit puts cookies on our device so they can monitor what we are looking at and then send us the best offer of something in which we just might be ever so slightly interested . But downloading the actual app is like inviting the company directly into our life, rolling the red carpet out for them. If you dont believe me just watch the accompanying video. This in turn, leads us to other sites that want us to download their app too!



However, the other question, and in my view a more important one, is why are we even thinking about downloading these apps at all? How come we are submitting ourselves to the ever-increasing spread of the disease of app-downloading? We are becoming app-junkies. In fact, looking back at this blog, the pernicious world of apps is spawning a whole new style of vocabulary! Do we really need that so-called money-saving shopping app? Just whose money is it saving? Certainly not ours. We like to think we are trendy and keeping ahead of the pack but instead, the app designers are rubbing their hands together in oily fashion as they pedal their wares to the manufacturing/service industries, persuading them that this is what the market is demanding. And then they bend over backwards to persuade us, - “the market”- that these things are a must-have.



Meanwhile, maybe there is a development of the spirit of competition in the app-downloading community with each poor app-crazy person who has lost all self control in order to find the latest, state-of-the-art must-have; must see; must-do app slowly losing their grip on reality. Maybe they are hiding in the office stock cupboard or lounging apparently nonchantly against the doorpost, not quite leaving or entering as they just have to see this one oh-so-important download opportunity, until one day they start actually falling under buses or causing other kinds of horrendous accidents in their frenzy not to miss it.



In the end what will become of all these app-ophiles? Will there be clinics and self-help groups for those who cannot control their addiction? Will they need professional healthcare and counselling to deal with their overwrought out-of-control app-mania. Will a whole new industry develop around counteracting this socially invasive addiction? Probably, until the next phase of technology delivers us its new baby for us to fawn and coo over. Dont wait, get help now before it’s too late.! You have been warned.