Showing Appreciation

Do you tell others often how much you appreciate them? Appreciation brings about a wonderful feeling, don’t overlook it. ALIJO SYLVESTER writes.

While I was surfing the net recently, I came across a story that touched me and the only word that kept ringing in my head while reading the story was “Appreciation”. There is a popular saying that, “You may not know the value of what you have until you loose it.” “I cannot sit at home with my wife for five minutes, we will fight. We will just pick a quarrel. It’s either she is not pleased with something I did or I am not satisfied. We pick quarrel always, so I do not even care to sit at home with her. So, if you see me at this joint always, that explains it.” Anytime you go to the joint, this man was always there, either sleeping, smoking or drinking. The man was so loud about this status with his wife, that often times he told people that “his wife and marriage is of no value to him.” The man’s wife later died from an ailment she has been struggling with for six months, which the man was unaware of due to his lack of care and his reckless lifestyle. The man became a shadow of himself; emaciated, sorrowful and taciturn, as a result of the wife’s death. When people went to the house to commiserate with him, he was quick to announce to them tearfully and sorrowfully saying; “My wife is dead. If I had known, I would have listened to her when she was alive.” He has been blaming himself for his wife’s death, and wished he was a more of a responsible husband by being there for her and their children, perhaps she would still be alive. The man has become more disorganised because he does not have a home, and has distributed his four children to family members because he cannot cater for them. His wife, who catered for the children and paid the house rent was gone forever. Why was he crying? Didn’t he say his marriage and wife meant nothing to him? Didn’t he say he could not sit for five minutes with her? He was never at home, so he did not play his role as a husband and a father. He never appreciated her. Some people will never know the value of their spouses until they are forced apart. Showing appreciation is important, yet not all of us practice that consistently with our spouses, friends, family, co-workers, among others. If a person takes the time to express their heart-felt appreciation for something we have done, it boosts our spirit, passion, and purpose. It builds our self-confidence, self-esteem and our entire self-image. It gives us energy and motivation to work harder and do more. As we grow older and put the pieces of our lives together, we sometimes tend to overlook the underlying importance of certain things and certain people in our lives, who have contributed in shaping us into the person we are now. In life, we cannot always get what we want at all times, but when we do, we find it hard appreciating them. If we do not make a conscious effort to appreciate what we have, it is often all too easy to focus on what we do not have. There is always something or someone to show appreciation to; we have our families to appreciate; we have friends, colleagues or strangers who help or have helped us in one way or the other. It is not only good but important to appreciate the little or most things that we have achieved or gotten in life. Humans, by nature, are social beings and nothing pleases or attaches to us more than some simple gratitude shown by people around us or people we do not know. Appreciating the little things that we have and what people did for us, will keep them close to us always, and having people who care and love us will certainly keep a smile on our face and make us happy to get through our worst days. Here are some common quotes that you can use as inspiration: “We tend to forget that happiness does not come as a result of getting something we do not have, but rather of recognising and appreciating what we do have”- Frederick Koenig “Learn to appreciate what you have before time makes you appreciate what you had”- Anonymous “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”- John f. Kennedy “Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.”- H. Jackson Brown. “Even if it is for one second, appreciate those who go the extra mile to make you happy. These are the priceless things in life” – Toni Payne