Appreciation IS Love
It’s all about ♥LOVE♥ in February – all kinds of love.
As you go through your daily life, how often do you take time to tell the people you encounter, the people who are just doing their job, that you appreciate them? I am talking about people such as the maintenance workers, the cleaning people in your office or home, the sanitation workers who pick up your garbage, your lawn maintenance people. “But they are just doing their job,” you might say. Yes, they are just doing their job and because of them your world – your home, office, streets, lawn – is a lot more beautiful.
What about when your friends or neighbors go out of their way to help you? Do you just say “thank you,” which is all they expect? Have you thought about once in a while doing something more that shows you really appreciate what they have done for you? Surprise them with some a bottle of wine, flowers or a special dessert. Yes, real friends and neighbors do things for us as we do for them, just because they care and don’t expect anything more. But I encourage you to do something for them when they don’t need it.
Another example of showing appreciation when someone is just doing their job, yet they go out of their way to do something extra – example, the receptionist at a medical lab who recently went out of her way to provide assistance with a procedure that they don’t usually do. Imagine her delight when a few days later she was handed a small bouquet of flowers and was told, “thank you so much for going out of your way to help me out. I appreciate you.” The smile and utter delight was worth much more than a few dollars spent on a few flowers.
We all want to be appreciated; we want to know that people care. Don’t you feel really terrific when someone makes an extra effort to say thank you for what you have done? Yes, it might have been your job to do it and get the project completed on time which provides satisfaction to us for a job well done, but when someone else on the team or your supervisor / manager stops by your office and says “thank you, I appreciate what you did,” you just feel really good.
So I challenge you, for the next seven days, to make a commitment to tell just one person a day that you appreciate them. You can call, email, write or better still, tell them in person looking eye-to-eye and say, “I appreciate you for . . . .” Tell the garbage collector, the auto mechanic, your family member and anyone else you can think of that you appreciate them. You will certainly make them feel better and you will feel better too!
We need more love, appreciation and kindness in this world, let it start with you. Tell one person today! 