An article by Ms Bharathi Bhaskar in the Tamil fortnightly Aval Vikatan set me thinking. She says that appreciation for women's achievements is rarely forthcoming. She avers that people around a woman tend to take her for granted and do not take the trouble to express their appreciation of her qualities.
At first I tended to dismiss the idea thinking - "What nonsense! We have too many people trying to flatter us and what is this lady saying?" But further thinking and analysis of the experiences of various people made me realize that not only women even men often go unappreciated and their valuable actions do go unheeded and unrecognized.
The recipes prepared with so much care by the homemaker, the tidiness of the house maintained by the daughter, the sacrifices made by the elder brother to look after the family after the demise of the father, the teenager's 95% in his /her examinations, the mother-in-law babysitting so that the son and bahu can go for a movie and so on the list is endless.
We rarely take time to compliment and recognize the little acts of kindness that people around us are performing all the time. Many of our spiritual literature urges us to live an 'attitude of gratitude' - to be thankful for every blessing that we receive. This also means that we express our gratitude by expressing our appreciation of the people who make value additions to our life.
Take time to appreciate everyone from the watchman in your apartment complex to the top executive in your office and see the difference. Shakespeare has said that the quality of mercy ... 'blesseth him that gives and him that takes" - the same thing applies to compliments too - it makes the person, who receives it, feel cherished and it makes you happy when you see the pleasure on someone's face. Smile at the waiter who serves you tea, thank your spouse for being supportive, praise your little son/daughter who tries to help you in their own way, show your appreciation and endorse the many acts of loving kindness that you encounter everyday.
You will find that you add a ray of sunshine to someone's life while experiencing a warm glow in your heart!
