The Impact of Appreciation

I’ve been thinking about appreciation a lot lately. In particular, appreciation for those people in our lives that are invisible to us or that we treat as invisible.

Right now I’m out of town on business staying in a hotel. When I opened my toiletries kit I saw the notes I’ve collected from past travels. These notes are conversations that I’ve had with the people who clean my room. When I leave my room every day, I put some money on the desk along with a note thanking this unknown person and wishing her/him a terrific day or something similar.  Now and again the person leaves me a note in return and through these brief exchanges we develop a relationship. Expressing my appreciation makes this person visible to me and creates the opening for a connection even when we may never meet face to face. S/he knows I value the effort s/he puts into making my stay enjoyable.

Another recent learning with respect to appreciation took place at a half marathon I ran a few weeks ago. Typically when I run a race I will thank the volunteers for helping out because without them we would not have water on the course or anyone to control traffic for us. On this particular day, I was getting tired and bored about half way through. Then I ran by a group of spectators who were cheering on the side of the road. My energy perked up right away and I yelled “You’re the best! Thanks for cheering!” That resulted in them cheering even more loudly. For the last 6 miles of the race I spent my time cheering for the spectators. “Yay fans! Yahoo for you! You’re the greatest! Thanks for being here!” The impact was astounding. The people who were just standing quietly watching started making noise and clapping, the runners near me started cheering too and the result was lots of fun and laughter. What was particularly intriguing to me was that as I expended energy jumping up and down cheering for the “fans” as I called them, my energy kept increasing! At the end of the 13.1 miles, I was more energetic than at the start. What an unexpected return gift I got back. The connection created energy.

Who are the “invisible” people in your life that support you in big or little ways? What impact might you have by letting her or him know that you appreciate her or his presence?

How about thanking the person at your favorite coffee shop for being there so early or so late when you really need your caffeine fix?

Or leaving a thank you note for the person who delivers your mail or newspaper everyday regardless of the weather?

And what about the person who folds your socks or takes the garbage out? (That may be you and it’s important to acknowledge yourself too for attending to these chores!)

Notice the impact when you give these seemingly small gifts. What are you generating when you express appreciation?