Have you ever done something for someone that took thought, preparation, extra time, and energy? And they didn’t acknowledge it at all? It’s not like you did it for the recognition, you did it because you wanted to, but it would have been nice if they noticed and appreciated the thought and effort that went into the gesture. If you have experienced that from the giving end, the next question would be, have you ever had someone do something extraordinary for you, and you didn’t notice or show appreciation to them? You were probably very busy and had a lot of other things on your mind. You might have been overworked and exhausted and didn’t have the energy to give the appreciation you felt.
No matter what end of the spectrum you have been on, it’s easy to see why showing appreciation is essential. It feels good when people notice when you take the time to do something extra special, and when they notice, it makes you want to do it again and again. It also feels terrific when someone chooses to do something special for you, and if you give sincere appreciation, it makes them want to do it again and again. Many relationships begin to fall apart because of the lack of appreciation. Whether it’s a romantic relationship, where one or the other people stops noticing the kind gestures, or they start taking them for granted and expecting them. Or even a business relationship, where you used to go the extra mile to serve the client. Eventually, you got tired, or they stopped noticing and started expecting the level of service you provided, and you began to feel unappreciated.
In a conversation with my daughter just the other day, we talked about all the nice things her boyfriend does for her, and she made sure I knew she always says “thank you” every time. And she acknowledged that it makes her want to do nice things for him.
It doesn’t take much time or energy to pause and say a heartfelt “thank you.” Conversely, it doesn’t take much extra time to pick up a little surprise at the store that you know someone will like. Sometimes it’s simply slowing down long enough to think about someone other than yourself.