The other day I came home from work to a surprising comment from my middle school aged daughter. As we were sitting around the dinner table, she simply said, “Hey Dad, thanks for going to work and working hard for us every day.” I stared at her in silence for a brief moment before I realized there was no ulterior motive, just an honest expression of her heart felt appreciation.
How often are we expressing honest and heart felt appreciation to those around us? The holiday season is always a time we generally show a larger outpouring of gratitude and appreciation. We usually do it in the form of christmas cards, gifts, time, etc. In the business world we seem to do a great job telling our clients how much we “appreciate” their business, or to our employees in the form of parties or monetary rewards. Unfortunately, these expressions of outward appreciation are more or less expected these days and thus lose their intended effect.
In fact, when was the last time we sat an employee down and said, “Thank You” for all the hard work or long hours you put in? When was the last time we went into the office of our boss, sat down and just said “Thank You” for the job and giving us an opportunity to work here? When was the last time we stopped by the office of one of our service providers and said “Thank You” for always doing a quality job? And more importantly, when was the last time we told our children or loved ones “Thank You” for putting up with us?
I can honestly say, after my daughters comment, going to work with a smile on my face and working that much harder has been easy. This brief experience has encouraged me to show more appreciation in my life. After all Dale Carnegie taught us “the deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” As we stare down the path of yet another new year, may we all take opportunities to show a little more appreciation to those around us, in all aspects of our lives.