My husband and I have just passed the mark of our twentieth wedding anniversary. I would like to share one thing that I think is essential in our relationship – saying thank you to each other.

Many people talk about having a gratitude journal and remembering to give thanks to God. I have started a gratitude journal but don’t always keep it up to date. What I do do however on a daily basis is to remember to thank my husband for all that he does for me and for my daughter and for the household.

It is a fairly simple thing to remember to say thank you. Thank you for taking the dog out. Thank you for doing the dishes. Thank you for driving to this location or that. Thank you for handling the bills.

A simple thank you can go a very long way. Saying thank you means you are aware of the contribution of another person to making the day go smoothly. It is an easy thing to do and has so many benefits. It means you are noticing when your husband or your wife or your partner is doing something that affects you. You are for a moment recognizing him or her and the behavior they display toward your relationship. You are for lack of a better term in the moment.

There is no action or reaction that is too small for a simple thank you. Thank you for starting the laundry. Thank you for changing the laundry to the dryer. Thank you for feeding the dog.

The benefit of saying thank you is that the other person feels noticed and appreciated. It is so easy to feel unappreciated at times. Extending a simple but heart-filled thank you can make or break the moment. And all those moments add up to hours, days, months and years of being thankful for your mate and thankful in general.

If you don’t have a mate right now in your life, you can practice giving thanks to the people who are in your life. I even try to say thank you for your time when I am contacting customer service for this or for that. Saying thank you for your time is something most people don’t hear on a regular basis. And they typically appreciate it.

Go on! I encourage you to try it if you don’t already- saying thanks to the people around you on a daily basis.