As a middle aged person I have made some observances about human behavior over the years. In my opinion, here is one conclusion that I have reached:
A significant number of problems humans experience comes from a lack of appreciation by others, in one way or another
This is not a naive view that appreciation can solve every human problem.
What do you think?
First of all humans were created as social beings. As the author is quite introverted, "social" beings might mean a lesser amount than someone else. Some of us consider ourselves "loners". However, less us take an example of someone who received very good news. Wouldn't you want to share the news with someone? If you had no one to tell the news would still be good, but telling others "adds meaning."
If one accepts the fact that humans are social, then what does that mean?
To SOME level we value how we look to others.
Looks do not mean physical appearance. If someone think we did something considered evil and we knew better than to do it, wouldn't we want to justify it? Granted, "let it go" is generally good advice when there are disagreements. But, we don't want to look bad to others, do we? We do not want to look like we were taken advantage of. We might dismiss it at first, but eventually something is bound to change.
Do You Feel Appreciated?
What this is leading to is that people who are under appreciated might look for appreciation in other ways that potentially could lead to problems. If you feel you are being taken advantage of, for instance, you might lash out at others more. You might even quit what you started or not take in a new adventure. What is the point if no one appreciates it?
It is more difficult to see this in others. Charles Manson has referred to himself as "under appreciated." In his own mind he justified what he did and wondered why others didn't think the same. We know how that turned out for him and his followers. It impacted the nation for awhile. While it is speculation to conclude he wouldn't have done what he did if he was appreciated, it might be likely that he would have not had any reason to choose the path he did.
How many criminals do things to get attention? This is pretty common.
Humans were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27 in the Bible). There has been much debate over what that means. However, the Bible declares that God is love. If we apply his word to our lives it shows that this is a deep down nature in humans. Since the Bible is our guide it shows spreading love is what helps us. One way of doing this is through appreciation.
It might be harder for those of us who are introverts. But these blogs involve self-improvement, and this is one area any of us can work on.
So what does this mean? By acknowledging appreciation of others we can improve things for both ourselves and the other person.
This add meaning to life because: Some problems humans have with each other could be prevented by making some simple changes. Showing appreciation is one of them.
Do YOU feel under appreciated?
Further information about the topic can be found at:
Appreciation Quotation
Learning About Being Human, Over Time