Are You Thankful for the Wrong People?

You know, so often we thank the wrong people. For some odd reason, we think only folks who are nice to us should be thanked. So we completely overlook an all too significant group, a group that may very well be responsible for much of the progress in the world: the ass-kickers.

“Remember that a kick in the ass is a step forward.”

When someone gives you a swift kick, it zaps you right off the dime. However comfy you were on that keister of yours, you go flying off it into a whole new place. From this new vantage point, the world looks different. So you muster up enough steam to squawk: “Hey, wait a second there! I’m not gonna put up with that! I’ll show you! I’m gonna ____!” And invariably, whatever it is you’re gonna do to ‘show them’ is legions better than where you were before. At least now you’re moving.

Now ass-kickers are not nice. The world certainly doesn’t need any more of them, and even American Greetings might not get a National Ass-Kickers Day off the drawing boards. But they do serve a purpose. By behaving badly, they remind you sharply of your own beliefs about right and wrong. For many of us, this is enough to kick us out of neutral and into high gear.

Action. That’s what a swift kick is all about. And that’s why the ass-kickers in our lives deserve to be at the very top of our Christmas lists every year. Would you have taken that very productive next step without them? Would you have moved this swiftly along your path towards greater happiness without a big assist from your local AK?

It looks like I’ll be writing a lot of thank yous this weekend.