I found this beautiful narration on Internet without any source. And, ever since I read it, I realized gratitude is such a basic instinct even in the animals and creatures, I make it a point to talk about it to my students, my children, everyone around me.
Once off the coast of San Francisco, a female humpback whale got entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands and radioed for help (sent message by radio). 
Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so badly off; the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her, which was a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was freed, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, nudged them, and pushed gently, thanking them. They said it was the most extremely beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.
Imagine how many times we have been fortunate, when we were entangled in some bad situation, yet been surrounded by people who helped us get untangled from it. Let us recall if we have thanked those angels enough……
The joy of giving and receiving gratitude is so significant in our lives.
Thank you is a small expression but it makes wonders because it expresses one of our most basic emotions – gratitude. It is not an abstraction, gratitude is a genuine emotion. It cannot be exacted or forced. You either feel it or you don’t. Yet, when someone does something nice for you, they expect gratitude. It is a mechanical human reaction. And, people think less of you if you withhold it. Think about the last time you gave someone a gift. If they didn’t say thank you, how did you feel about them; ill mannered, or ungrateful, or S.O.B.? Everyone loves to be appreciated and noticed. Everyone wants to be recognized for their good deeds. In my opinion, being thankful is the key to making connections with other people. It is also the key to being happy with yourself and others.
I really enjoy when people admire me or acknowledge me. It feels good. It makes me feel like I have succeeded in whatever they expected of me. I’m sure to a certain degree, you do too. People feel great when others care about them; these are universal desires of humans. Knowing all that is easier said than done. For some people, it is tough to appreciate others; they take other’s love and warmth for granted and they forget to show gratitude.
The fact is, we are living in a day when many are not thankful for anything. Selfishness, stinginess and meanness mar the basic feeling of gratitude. Children learn the basic characters from parents; teaching children when they are young to be thankful is a difficult assignment which too many parents ignore, therefore, children feel that being selfish is standard. Being thankful seems to be a lost skill set in the world today. Not only do many children grow up without manners, they grow up without any regard to being thankful to the ones that even brought them into the world.
Once you start being grateful for all the little things as well as the big things, in life you will start to see a change in that you and you will be blessed with more things to be thankful for. When we focus on those things which we have in our lives, we automatically stop cribbing for things which we don’t have. This alone improves the quality of life.
Expressing gratitude is important to our daily and healthy existence, so please take the time to say thank you. It is not happy people who are thankful; it is thankful people who are happy.
