Appreciation

What is there about us who crave appreciation, and then dismiss it with "Oh, Pshaw. It was nothing"?

William James wrote that the "deepest hunger in humans is the desire for appreciation." I am not talking about the raging ego-centric desire for praise and neither was he. I am talking about the little moments when we let others know we appreciate them and what they are doing. We come across probably hundreds of people in a month to whom we could give a little encouragement, but we don't.

Many of Paul's letters in the Bible begin with encouraging and blessing words. Often in the places we work, we are never noticed except for a mistake or miscue--and then the lambast comes. I'll bet there are readers of this blog who identify.

Tomorrow is Sunday--why not go out of your way to encourage your elders, the praise team, the worship leader, the tech guy (thanks, Phil!) , the class teacher, and even those who make coffee in the gathering room and that man or woman you admire for certain qualities, but have never told them. Life is so short.....