My gratitude is not a Cliché

It has just now settled in my head that clichés are running rampant all throughout society. This has not been an overly concerning matter to me except in one instance, but this instance is such a profoundly important one that it prompted me to write this. Now this cliché is not so much like the others, which are used so often that people tire of hearing them and tire of saying them. This cliché is different; I would never bore of hearing the simple words that this phrase is comprised of. The one true problem is, not necessarily that I tire of saying it, but that it has become so bland because I can not place enough emphasis on these words to convey a point that I so desperately need to show. To hear a thank you is quite possibly one of the most meaningful and beautiful things to ever fall on my ears. This may sound selfish like taking these kind words and holding them as some type of battle trophy, but it isn’t like that. To know that I have affected someone or something and made a change for the better, knowing someone’s life is better and maybe a little bit easier just by the things that I do, is something that I will never forget, not even if I lived a thousand lifetimes.

Now I have to put myself on the other side of this issue. To construct a thank you that means more to someone than just two words, or two syllables, is a difficult task, but an important one. I need to put forth all that I can to compose a perfect thank you, one that doesn’t fall inside this timeless cliché, one that isn’t within the status quo. I need to give something nearly as remarkable as the feat that I am thanking. Could I ever stretch the fabric enough of these two simple words to mean so much more than one could imagine they could convey? Would I be able to put forth enough diligence and sacrifice into speaking these words that it would be easy for one to infer that I would do anything, say anything, be anything, merely to prove the extent of my gratitude?

So far, I have found nothing, nothing that could compare, or come close to being more to someone that just a small thank you. When I say thank you, they are not words that roll haphazardly off of the tip of my tongue, they are to prove the importance of what

someone has done for me. I wish when I said thank you people could see that their kindness, caring, and benevolence is enough to make me with stand the hardest trials. I could weather the elements, standing in one place in a stiffened salute, without shelter, food, or water for days. I would remain standing in salute, a living memorial to serve their greatness, until my body became so tired and sore from standing that I would shake from the pain, but never falter from my mission. I would hold my silent vigil, signifying my gratitude for them, with muscles burning torturously and feeling like they could burn right out through my skin and spill out on to the ground. I would hold fast in my salute for days, when I would think about quitting I would go longer to prove the meaning of the deeds previously completed. I would stand there in honor until I collapse, that will be the only thing to stop me. The only way to convey my gratitude would be through extreme pain. Pain is the only thing I can even compare, because pain is the one thing most easily related to sacrifice. My pain is my conviction.

            There are varying degrees to which one should be grateful, and indeed not everything that anyone has ever done for me deserves a thank you as great and extraordinary as this. At times it is necessary to show your gratitude in such a manner, sometimes a thank you just isn’t enough. I am sick of clumsily grasping for the words to mean so much more than a measly thank you. I am horrible with words, and speaking a thank you isn’t nearly enough as showing it. I am bad at acting on initiatives as well, so I will hold my thank you salute with in my own brain until it crashes under the pressure, or I act on an initiative burning inside my brain.