It is very easy to take our world, our loved ones, ourselves, and our God for granted. Every morning when we wake up, then throughout the day, and before we go to sleep, we should take a few moments to give thanks. But not too much thanks, as the following scene demonstrates.
The setting is an office in New York City. A confused, disorganized young man is trying to collate a number of different reports. Enter a levelheaded young woman who gives the young man a paper clip. He looks at her, and he looks at the clip. For a moment he's speechless. Smiling, he shuffles his papers around and slips on the clip. There is a sigh of relief. The lights dim and a spotlight shines on the young man, who turns to a nonexistent audience and begins to give an acceptance speech.
"Oh my. Wow. I can't even believe this. This is such an honor. This paper clip changed my life and I just want to say thanks to a few people for making this happen.
"First off, I would like to thank my coworker Darya, who gave me this paper clip. If it weren't for her kindness and consideration, I wouldn't be standing here today.
"I would like to thank Pete in the mail room. Pete is the guy who brings the supplies we order to our offices. He's always friendly, and Pete, I know you're working two jobs to support your family, and I want to say thank you just for bringing Darya that box of paper clips. I want to thank your family too for the sacrifices they have to make because you work so much. They know you love them.
"I would like to thank the paper supply company that offers these paperclips in its product catalog. Thank you just for having a business that keeps us from losing our minds. Thank you not only to the heads of the company but to all your employees who are the backbone of the corporation.
"I would like to thank the UPS guy who makes deliveries to our office every day. I would also like to thank your parents, man, for bringing you into the world. Thank you, bro.
"I would like to thank the manufacturers of the cardboard that created the box that holds the paper clips and all those workers in your plant who show up for work every day, in desperate need of caffeine, but ready to work. Thank you to all their families as well, including all sons and daughters who might be getting married and starting families of their own soon.
"A special shout-out to the people who make the ink that's printed on the cardboard box and the designer who designed the logo. You guys never get the credit you deserve. Keep on rocking.
"Thank you to the truck drivers who move the supplies for the warehouse to the stores, and thanks to all the civil engineers who helped design all the roads that we all drive on every day, and the municipal workers who keep the roads relatively clean and safe (I just ran over a pothole the other day). Oh, and thank you to those folks who create the traffic lights that prevent chaos in our nation.
"I would also like to thank the inventors of the paper clip, including Samuel B. Fay, Erlman J. Wright, and all the folks at Britain's Gem Manufacturing Company who worked back in the 1890s to get clips out to the world. And a special thanks to Johan Vaaler of Norway. I know it's been proved that Johan is not the originator of the paper clip, but without him we wouldn't have all the folklore and legend surrounding this little bit of metal. And we definitely wouldn't have that giant sculpture of a paper clip outside the Norwegian School of Management in Sandvika, Norway.
"I know these paper clips are manufactured in China, which is wild, right? It's unfathomable how many thousands of miles need to be traversed to get these clips from overseas. Anyway, I would like to thank all the folks in China who work long hours in the factories that produce these clips as well as the drivers and all the dockworkers on both sides of the world who were involved in getting the clips from the factory to the ports.
"Thank you to all the people who mined the metal for these clips, and thank you to all the animals and plants that were displaced during that time so I could one day hold my paper together.
"And last, I want to thank God, who has been involved in this project from its inception and was in all the people and things that helped along the way. We are all connected and we do live in abundance even if we sometimes feel disconnected and empty. Thank you, God. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!"
This is why it's not good to be too thankful. If you were you'd probably never get any work done. So use common sense when giving thanks and remember these words from G.K. Chesterton: "When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude."
Choose gratitude.
Gary Jansen is the author of The 15-Minute Prayer Solution: How One Percent of Your Day Can Transform Your Life