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Appreciate, but refine what you appreciate

 Take a survey. Take data from any survey. We can easily find that the vast majority of people express thumbs down for whether they really get appreciated for what they have done. We may also find that the expectations are not costly rewards or high demands but the simplest form of deeds that shows appreciation. If it is that easy, then why is it not done as often as possible?

Our smile and clap can help a toddler stand and walk a few more steps. It can encourage a kid to do more and feel happy when we appreciate him for solving a simple mathematical problem. Such is the very fundamental nature and the tendency of us, to receive an appreciation and feel good about it. Any genuine appreciation lifts us up. Do we still hesitate to appreciate, even after knowing the power of appreciation?

When do we actually feel like appreciating? Some of the things I can think of: (1) When someone’s act gives a direct benefit, like a task completed. (2) When something makes us feel good, like a good movie. (3) When we want to encourage someone, like a carrom shot. (4) Of course, the fake one.

Maybe, we are now seeing less and less things that deserve appreciation. What prevents us from giving appreciation? Here are a few things I see: (1) Some form of appreciation is taken care by the system, like the salary. (2) Something that has become regular, like a tasty coffee prepared. (3) When the appreciation could mislead to something else, like getting a pay hike request. (4) When something is not recognised as an appreciation worthy (5) intentionally holding it.

People are always doing something. Can everything be appreciated? It is not practically possible as the best of appreciations can come only when we understand the full journey and not just the end result. And also we need to be at the receivers’ level to recognise the need for an appreciation. A doctorate person may not find anything appreciable in a school kid’s performance when things are looked at the doctorate level.



I am not going to say how to improve ourselves and give more appreciation, but sharing this quote that I saw recently, which gave me a different perspective about appreciation. “Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well”, a quote by Voltaire makes me think that appreciation is also a tool to inspire and make us learn something. Appreciation is not just giving, it is also receiving. To be a better human, we need to refine what we appreciate as one day we might be doing the very thing that we appreciate today.

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