Don’t Be Ungrateful
Un malagradecido no reconoce lo que tiene1. He takes everyone and everything for granted, like nothing else matters besides himself…or herself. Numero Uno! He doesn’t realize how fast time flies, how nada en esta vida es seguro2, how every second matters, because we never know if we’re getting another, how people and situations change… nothing ever stays the same, and how oh so very important the Thank yous and I love yous are.
No, un malagradecido nunca reconoce esto3.
Being ungrateful was the worst thing we could ever be, and probably still is. It garnered disappointment. Made us feel ashamed, and more often than not inspired apologies, as well as all sorts of other attempts to rectify our behavior (handwritten notes, drawings, paintings, etc.) And I guess the lesson is some lessons are just lifelong. Last night I spent the better part of a couple of hours talking about the people who’ve helped me along the way in one way or another, professionally in this case, and it made me realize that maybe I have been a little malagradecido 4myself.
Do those people know how much their guidance and support actually meant to me? How they opened doors and windows for me just by taking me under their wings? How they inspired and motivated me in many cases? I don’t know.
My mother would say: no mijo, eso no está bien…uno debe ser agradecido, humilde, no orgulloso y malagradecido5. So as I retreat to my “corner of shame” to figure out how to rectify my bad behavior, probably spanning over years now – I have a feeling my drawings and hand paintings won’t do much for me here – let me just start by saying a very big Thank You to all the people who’ve ever believed in me…especially to those who did so when I didn’t even believe in myself.
If you’re feeling it, and not afraid of being a little cursi…aca los espero6.
Legend: 1An ungrateful person doesn’t appreciate what he has. 2Nothing in life is guaranteed. 3No, an ungrateful person doesn’t recognize this. 4Ungrateful 5No son, that’s not right…one should be grateful, humble,not proud and ungrateful. 6a little corny…I’ll wait for you here
15 thoughts on “No Seas Malagradecido”
I always try to thank my parents for what they have given me. I’m gonna take this opportunity to tell you, Gracias por tu amistad 🙂
Aww, gracias Patrona 🙂 y que bueno que agradezcas a tus padres tambien. And thank you for being one of my good friends!
Que lindo post Juan! Y no lo considero cursi, sino honesto y valiente. Not many people know how to say Thank You!
And please don´t feel as though you have to go to a “corner of shame” to think about people you didn´t get a chance to say thank you to. Maybe you weren´t aware of their help, maybe you needed time to “marinate” the gratefulness. The important thing is how these people have touched your life and you have said THANK YOU by being the amazing person you are. No?
Anyways, great reminder to always be AGRADECIDO every time with every one!
Gracias Juan por enriquecer mi vida con tus hermosas palabras! Un abrazote Compadre. 🙂
Sue…tienes el don de hacerlo sentir a uno siempre bien, tranquilo, contento, hasta alegre cuando se ha portado un poquito mal, jaja! Gracias por el comment. I think you’re right. Sometimes we do need that extra time to think things through, analyze and let it “marinate.” That makes me feel better. Maybe I’ll come out of my corner after all 🙂
Do come out! No need to go there in the first place! Jajaja! Un abrazote!!!!
SOLD!! Ya estoy afuera 🙂
Excellent. We can always use a reminder to be more gracious and thankful to those who’ve helped us along the way.
Thank you Kimmie. Nice avatar by the way 🙂
Man – footnotes y todo. Qué fancy. LOL.
Awh, you reminded me of those drawings the kids used to make me saying “sorry” when they know they’d done something wrong. I have a box full somewhere. LOL.
You say those drawings probably can’t help you these days, but imagine if every time we were ungrateful, rude, unappreciative and had done something wrong – that we made the person affected a little drawing in apology – even as adults. What a wonderful world it would be? LOL.
I love “corner of shame”… jiji. Maybe I should be there today. I received medical test results this morning which should have been a relief but I’ve just felt annoyed with this whole process and the anxiety it gave me that by this point I didn’t feel as fully thankful as I should have… Do you know, while I was at the doctor, Suegra even lit my Virgencita candle for me. She cares about me in her way.
I will find a way to tell her “thank you” for her thoughtfulness … and thank YOU for your friendship. I value you un montón hermano 🙂
We’re moving on up Treisi, jajaja! Totally kidding here…but we do seem to be busier. Miss tweet chats 🙁 Glad you are doing so well with your blog. I still don’t think my drawings or paintings would be very helpful, but I appreciate the encouragement.
Thanks for the comment, y tu sabes que te aprecio muchisimo hermano!!
great post…its great to be able to tell the people that influenced us how much they mean…many may never know it and you dont know how much it might mean to them…
Very true, Brian. It means more than we realize and is not as common as it should be… Thanks 🙂
Hi Juan! I’ve enjoyed reading your comments on Latinaish so much, that I decided to come pay you a visit.
I really like your blog. I love that you mix both English and Spanish. And using popular dichos as a base for your posts is an awesome idea. (But you should know that Televisa -big TV network in Mexico- stole your idea and started a telenovela-esque series called “Como Dice el Dicho”. http://televisa.esmas.com/entretenimiento/programastv/como-dice-el-dicho/)
Anyway, I am really glad I decided to stop by. See you soon. 🙂
Leslie, thank you for stopping by. I am very glad you did! Tracy is a dear friend of mine…we hit it off as creative “yin-yang” from the beginning since we are both doing similar things in sort of different ways. About the dichos, I know! They are crazy popular and not copyrighted by anyone so they are fair game for everyone…which to me is great, because they are such an essential part of our cultura. Come back often amiga 🙂
Aww, see, that’s what I love about ‘cha. These are the values that I try to remind myself of daily and instill in my kids. Un abrazo.