Saturday 23 May 2009

Reflections on Appreciation part 3

Growing up in my family I was taught appreciation involved learning the value of what you were given. Food on my plate, clean home, transfer of parent's beliefs and values, parent's nurturing, the environment, willingness to work, personal relationships.
Photo: Maher Berro
The list grew as I did. I realised that appreciation grew to meet my most valued experiences. They were and still are heart felt experiences and reciprocated too. Honest appreciation is like the caress of a lover whose sensuality remains long after the lover has gone.

I'll elaborate a little.
  • Appreciation makes us feel good and shifts us positively in a direction that increases our energy or motivation.
  • We enhance what we enjoy or what we are doing that received the appreciation. This give us the energy to continue and be more fruitful.
  • Appreciation moves quickly. It's dynamic and it's goal is to unite people toward a goal which may be friendship, conformity to an idea, cooperation amongst team members, the results are like a piece of string - however long you want it.
  • What you focus upon increases. Focus like pure water helps to grow appreciation as it does so many other things.
  • Appreciation is one of the simplest ways to acceptance and removing differences that create disharmony. It helps embed a positive cultural shift.

At merriam-webster.com appreciation is defined as 'an expression of admiration, approval, or gratitude', 'sensitive awareness...'

At yourdictionary.com it's defined as 'the awareness or understanding of the meaning, significance, value, or worth of something.'


Appreciation is the wind in the sails of gratitude.
Have you noticed that there is not a day, maybe even a hour where appreciation is not felt in your life? Some people recommend a daily practice of gratitude. It's become one of the law of attraction buzz words and rituals of the past two years. I believe appreciation is the knowing of the value of something beyond money and gratitude exists as a reflection upon this.

Imagine appreciation to be like a ship, which ports will you steer it to, to collect the passengers you would like to accept aboard?

Let's play constructively with this metaphor.
  • Take a pen and paper and draw four columns.
  • In the first column write the name of someone you will like to appreciate more.
  • In the second column write what it is they do or how significant they are to you.
  • In the third column describe what you will do to show them your appreciation.
  • In the fourth column note what you will have once you've shown them your gratitude.

I thought of these general reasons for helping in directing my gratitude:
I feel good as it reminds me of the important, positive things in life.
It is an opportunity to connect to others for simply being there.
It drives me from a stagnant state to a more dynamic one. That feels good too.
When I or someone else creates a change in my life, there is an opportunity to make one in another person's life too.


I'll leave you with an apt quote, in that it reminds me all change begins inside of us and spreads outward.
'As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.' Quote attributed to Mohandas Gandhi


Let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading
Jens

2 comments:

  1. We all need t remember to have appreciation in all heart at all time.

    My favoirte is "Appreciation is one of the simplest ways to acceptance and removing differences that create disharmony. It helps embed a positive cultural shift"

    Thanks for sharing.
    Giovanna Garcia
    Imperfect Action is better than No Action

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  2. Hiya

    I agree. I feel appreciation is a constant, always available effect of love. I need reminders to stop and appreciate what others are doing or have done for me. That's why I wrote this series of posts.

    Thanks for commenting
    Jens

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