Thanks a Lot!

"How 'bout me not blaming You for everything ... thank you, thank you" (AM)

And don't forget to
say thank you!

Please, please, please!
Sound familiar? We all do it. We all ask for a lot of things. And rightfully so. There's nothing wrong with that. Just as a child asks his parents for a list of things, we can and should always feel free to turn to our Father in Heaven and ask for whatever we wish.
But what happens if we do not receive what we asked for? What is our reaction? Who do we blame?
Do we ever question why we were not granted our wish? Do we ever consider that Hashem certainly heard our prayers, yet didn't provide us our wish because of something we did or did not do?
And what if our prayers were answered - did we ever say thank you?

A great tzaddik once relayed the following story that he experienced:
I once had a dream that I rose up to the Heavens and saw a spectacular sight. I was ushered into a magnificent chamber where tens of thousands of angels were scurrying about from one side to the other.
I asked in bewilderment, "What is this chamber?"
"This is the chamber of the prayers of the Jewish People who ask for salvation," was the answer I was told, "and these are the angels who are transporting them."
I then passed into a second large chamber where I saw the identical vision. Tens of thousands of angels were rushing from one area to another.
Again I asked, "And what is this chamber?"
"This is the chamber of answered prayers," replied the angels, "and we are hurrying to deliver them to those who prayed for them."
Finally, I passed into a third chamber. In this chamber, however, I saw a completely different scene. There were very few angels, and even those were not moving quickly, rather they were carrying along quite slowly and lazily.
I asked once more, "And what is this chamber?"
"This is the chamber of thanks and appreciation from those who received salvation," was the sad response. "In truth, this chamber should be the busiest of all. However, as painful as it is, we do not have much to do."

Sad, but true.
Just as we appreciate when others offer us gestures of thanks and gratitude for our kindness, so should we demonstrate our thanks to Hashem for everything we have.
And we all certainly have infinite reasons to thank Him!

Say to yourself ten times today:
"Hashem - thank You, thank You, thank You ... for everything!"