Appreciation

In the world nowadays, as we all know firsthand, we lead stressful lives; we have a very busy lifestyle, with school, CCAs, family, exams, PW, which just ended, thank goodness! All these commitments make us so stressed out we become easily irritated, quick to become angry, and this just drags down our moods. Just like that, it’s so easy to become an unhappy person. If you know what I mean, continue listening, because I have here, a way that would allow you to have a more positive outlook of life. It’s something that sounds simple, but is hard to practice.

You know, have you ever craved for praise, from your parents, teacher, classmates, friends? Craved for a simple ‘thank you’? Do you remember the bubbly feeling of happiness you get, when someone sincerely praises you and thanks you? Appreciation. Every single human being has a deep desire to be appreciated. It is just so important to learn how to appreciate. Let’s not talk about appreciating nature, slowing down your footsteps to look at the sky, listening to the birds chirp, let’s talk about appreciating something closer to us, the people around us.

Here, I’ll be talking about the importance of receiving appreciation, then tie it back to how appreciating others can affect ourselves, and make us happier people, giving us a more positive outlook of life.

There is one longing, almost as deep, almost as imperious, as the desire for food or sleep, which is seldom gratified. It is the ‘desire to be important’. Lincoln once began a letter saying: “Everybody likes a compliment”, William James said: “The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated”. Think about yourself, you want the approval of those with whom you come into contact with, you want recognition of your true worth, you want a feeling that you are needed and important in your little world, you don’t want to listen to cheap, insincere flattery, but you do crave sincere appreciation, you want your friends and associates to be, as Charles Schwab, one of the first people in American business to be paid a salary of over a million dollars a year in 1921, put it, “hearty in their approbation and lavish in their praise”. And as we want this, so do those around us. By giving them appreciation, you are able to lift their spirits, satisfy their deep burning desire, make them happy and feel important.

What would appreciating others do for you? Well, wanting to be appreciated, is a gnawing and unfaltering human hunger, and the rare individual who honestly satisfies this hunger will hold people in the palm of his or her hand. What do normal people do? If they don’t like a thing, they criticize, but if they do like it, they say nothing. As the old couplet goes “Once I did bad and that I heard ever, twice I did good and that I heard never”. If you are able to master this technique of praising others instead of criticizing them, you are well on your way to success, because people would be much more willing to give you what you want, be it an item, a favour, or helping you complete a task.

Appreciating others also benefits you on a deeper level. It helps you improve your relationship with the people around you, because everyone likes to hang around with someone who appreciates them. Furthermore, the ability to put a smile onto someone else’s face is something that can be really satisfying, knowing that you did something good. Looking at their grateful faces, you too would feel a sense of happiness. Also, it helps you gain a better outlook of life, because you see the good things that exist in your life. When you actively look out for things to be appreciative of, it is inevitable that you would learn to discover how fortunate you are, and thus, have a more positive mindset.

So, just learn to appreciate those around you, and to express your appreciation for them. Appreciate your parents for raising you up over the past 16, 17 years, for always giving, and not asking for anything back, they would take a bullet for you, so thank them for their unconditional love. Appreciate your friends, for helping you, for making your school life fun, because school without friends? How tortuous that is! Appreciate the waiters and bus drivers and taxi drivers for serving you, for making your life more convenient. Make them happy, and make your life a better one at the same time. It is clear what the right thing to do is--- appreciate.