When was the last time you walked up to someone and said a few words of appreciation?  When was it that someone walked up to you providing you with words of appreciation?

Come to think of it, as we have grown older, we see very few, in fact zero words of appreciation around us.  The whole world seems to be in a critical mode.  Criticizing something or the other; some times colleagues, family, friends, government, nations or the whole world.  Open the Newspaper or switch to any News channel, you find criticism spread all over.

Criticism is a negative energy.  It puts a lot of stress on people.  It creates negative vibes/vibrations for you and others.  It changes the whole climate around you.  For example, when you find a boss who is always pushing people around, criticizing them for whatever they do, finding faults in everything and who is difficult to please, you will find that the climate in that team and around him will be highly stressed.  The motivation levels will be low.  People will be guarded.  Negative energies will be felt by whoever comes in contact with such a team.

Isn’t it the same with parents and parenting as well? Children of parents who are difficult to please and who never received positive strokes, grow up to be people with low self-esteem. They also find it difficult to assert themselves, which lands them in a lot of trouble when they grow up. I’ve seen such kids grow up to be adults who go looking for appreciation, almost begging for it from anyone and everyone who is willing to give it to them. They are always wanting to please others even at the cost of their own lives. It does make them vulnerable to manipulation. They end up feeling a sense of worthlessness.

Unfortunately, most of us have been subjected to and made to believe that criticism is the only way one can improve.  It helps people identify their pain areas. It reminds them of their shortcomings, exposes them to their blind spot and  will spur them on for higher performance.

I’ve never seen ‘pain’ contributing to a positive movement.  Even when you find a movement, it will come with a great deal of stress.  Not motivating at all isn’t it?

As opposed to this, why not consider some ‘Appreciation’? It really creates a positive energy.  It makes people feel good.  It generates positive vibes.  It motivates people towards an affirmative action – an action abundant with Joy!. 

Let me give an example. Do you remember how you were taught to walk?  Each step you took, your parents had a word of appreciation, positive affirmation, which motivated you to take the next baby step and the next and so on. 

When you failed in your initial attempts, your parents didn’t reprimand you, criticize you for not walking properly.  Instead, they appreciated you for the effort, which generated a lot of positive energy around you.  If you have ever seen Dolphins being trained.  Have you seen them being whooped for not jumping out of water and passing through the hula-hoop held by their human partner?  Would they ever come out of water and perform those acrobatics if the trainers whoop them for not jumping properly? The only way it does what it does is through positive appreciation.  You would have seen the trainers feeding the Dolphins a fish each time they did something right.  This makes it repeat the act often and with great deal of joy. An appreciation which helps them in their performance.

Appreciation is for me an aphrodisiac for growth and when given in public makes a hell of a difference.

So why not show some appreciation today? To someone who you care about, love or simply want to help grow.

Come on! Don’t be stingy! Show Some Appreciation!