©Allen Merritt (2015)
Most
of this month I’ve devoted my blog to the idea of initiating challenges. Today
is the final one before moving into the hot and heavy month of August. This week’s
topic refers to seeing the good in others, which you might as well as say,
includes you. More aptly, I want to talk about taking time to notice value within
our lives.
It’s
nice to be noticed, recognized, acknowledged, accepted, embraced, wanted and
appreciated. Don’t you think so? It’s not necessarily about phishing for
validation. It is validation,
as well as validating.
In
my opinion, the health benefits are numerous, because everything mentioned
above is associated with a positive-specific action and/or feeling. When people
actively and genuinely demonstrate such things toward themselves and others,
they are initiating a positive response system and cause good feelings to precipitate.
There is nothing like a great compliment or a vote of confidence to encourage
the best in someone. Yet, as often as not, such things are not put to good use.
In fact, I think people forget about such activities until suddenly out of
nowhere we receive a kind word. Maybe this is because it’s become something of
an anomaly or seen as nothing more than phishing for a compliment, brown nosing
or being nice just to get something. However, thinking in these terms serve
only to bury us deeper into the negative response system such as becoming too cynical,
bitter or sarcastic, which can make an indelible negative impact. (Check out the
article I found on why people don’t acknowledge each other.)¹
Opening
up to the possibilities and trusting the good in others can transform our
perspective.
For
example, I recently got a message from someone who recognized me while watching
television. I thought it was nice that someone took a moment to share that
information on their news-feed which prompted another person to chime in and
enhance the good feeling with an additional comment on how good and nice I was.
This came out of left field to me. In any case, I was reminded of this a couple
of days later when I checked my email to find a note forwarded to me from a
group of students expressing gratitude and appreciation for the work several of
us do toward helping them learn, grow and become better at their vocation.
After receiving this note I began considering the importance of spreading good
vibes.
Not
long ago (before these two messages) I made a point to send out a few cards to
those persons whom I considered important to me. People who’ve been a presence
in my life for a long time. I thought it important to share with them how much
I appreciated them. I wrote, “I am sending you this card if for no other reason than
to say ‘Thank You’ for being an important part of my life.”
On
hindsight, it figures that by my sending out a few of these cards the universe
returned the same kindness to me via the aforementioned messages.
With
this in mind, I present to you the last in this series of challenges. Take time
to make time and offer up a show of appreciation to someone every day this
week, whether its co-workers, friends, family members or an individual you
barely know or only see on occasion. Present compliments, encouragements, or a thank
you with a simple note expressing your true thoughts and/or feelings. Don’t be afraid to present a well deserved “atta-boy”
or pat on the back to let somebody see your vote of confidence in them. They probably worked hard to deserve it.
Not
everything in life is a competition. Sometimes people just need and/or deserve
a kind word to help them stay on track, keep pursuing a goal and help in
achieving some level of success. Their success is our success.
Now
go out there and get to it!
Ready,
set….GO!
Cheers!
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/201301/why-people-dont-acknowledge-you¹
(Viewed 6/8/2015)
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