THE POWER OF APPRECIATION

THE POWER OF APPRECIATION

I may be wrong but my observation is that we Indians are very miserly in appreciating others. We are quick to criticise but we don’t readily appreciate the good things of people.

We take things for granted especially our spouses, parents, children and others. We take for granted the love of our spouses, parents and children as though it is our right.

Generally it is observed that the spouse i.e. the husband or wife is the least appreciated of the person. We never seem to appreciate the small things that our spouses do for us such as cooking, arranging the house, earning for the family so on and so forth. We rarely appreciate the hard work that the wife does at home, the good cooking that she does. Similarly the efforts of the husband are also seldom appreciated. But if something small goes wrong then we blow our tops.

We never appreciate what our parents have done for us. By appreciation I mean we are not vocal about it. Silent appreciation has no meaning unless we convey it either with words or with body language. Similarly we never appreciate what others do for us. How many of us thank the auto driver or the taxi driver? How many of us thank the waiter who serves us at the restaurant? How many of us appreciate the hard work our parents have put in to bring us up and to educate us? Do we ever give a thought to the hurdles and difficulties our parents must have faced in nurturing us? The anxiety they must have felt during our illness or the tough financial situations they may have faced to educate us. No! We always take these things for granted.

We must realise that appreciation is a power. Appreciation shows our love and gratitude not only to our near and dear ones but to the society at large. When you appreciate the good things in your spouse see the love with which he or she treats you. When you appreciate your parents see the shine in their eyes. When you appreciate your children see the joy on their faces. When you appreciate your servants see the willingness and eagerness with which they serve you.

Let us develop the habit of appreciation in order to make this world a better place filled with love and joy.