Appreciate

What are few things you remember from your past? 

When I think about my early childhood years, I remember many things. One of them is how my maternal aunties used to praise me for being understanding and well behaved during my family crisis. I remember how few of my teachers mentioned to other fellow teachers about my good study habits. I remember how my extra tutoring place teacher encouraged me by saying that "you have a spark of a writer, never give up on writing." 

I do not know if  I really had these qualities as a part of my personality or was it just a one time show. Like just winning one game of chess, does not pronounce you a chess expert. Though, one thing is for sure, that one time appreciation from people around me, was a life time transformation for me. I still believe that I am a compliant person and that is the reason I have less friction around me at work place, I still think that I have good work habits and that is the reason I almost always meet deadlines. I still feel that I can write and it gives me a hope to continue writing like this. 

The people who praised me must have definitely forgotten that one moment of appreciation but it has become a life time of reality for me. 

That is the power of appreciation! Appreciation is all win win. It is easy to say that "big deal! " or "of course that maid provided me good cleaning services, after all I paid her handsomely." But saying "great work! I really appreciate it. " Does not cause any harm either. I know if you are a boss or a leader and if you are too nice to point out at some one's poor performance then it will be really harmful in future run. That is not the case with appreciation though.  

Appreciation brings many superficial benefits e.g. the person who appreciates feels good like having a sense of power. The person who gets appreciated feels good by receiving acknowledgment.

It also has deeper effects like I mentioned above. I can say this even from my relatively recent experience. I was new to USA. Different country, different work ethics, different work culture. Being a speech therapist, I had to deal with students and adults with speech disorder. Just being fluent in language and knowing your job was not enough. When you work with people, they judge you for your accent, at times they have biases based on your race, country of origin etc. At such demanding times, my lovely administrator one day came to me and told me that, " I am really impressed with your command over English. Also, I really like the way you talk to kids. " It made me feel good at that moment. Not just that, it gave me immense confidence to pursue my carrier further at the same job. I felt welcome and it gave me the sense of belonging. My administrator is definitely a good leader. It just took her few seconds to say those sentences which won her a dedicated employee. She motivated me to work hard just by one acknowledgment. 

At work, when I appreciate my students by saying small things like, "good job!", "awesome", "you are a rock star!" I see them puffed up with pride! Who cares then if they are attending a special day class and working slowly than typically developing kids. The decision is easy for them, work similarly to get more appreciation. 

I remember that kid who said after my praise towards him for talking clearly about a topic during a  speech session. He said," really? but I thought I am  really dumb when it comes to talk in front of others! Now I know that I am not!' Such a powerful learning I had that day! One praise can change some one's perspective so drastically! 

I still feel touched when my friends mom makes that sweet for me on my visit to their place and says, "remember?  you had praised it so much on Reshma's 10th birthday? I remember that you like it. So specially made it for you!" 

Again, appreciation is all win win with no bad side effects. It is a pill we all must take and give whenever we can. It can keep you healthy with many bright smiles and will improve your work efficiency and the efficiency of others!  :)