Today’s Mandala Message: Make Appreciation a Habit
This week I’m working through Principle #53 “Practice Uncommon Appreciation”. I set my intention today to ponder making appreciation of others a habit. Canfield states: “When I first learned about the power of appreciation, it made total sense to me. However, it was still something that I forgot to do. I hadn’t yet turned it into a habit.”
So he created a way to make it a habit. He carried in index card in his pocket and every time he acknowledged someone he put a checkmark on the card. His goal was to have at least 10 marks on his card by the end of the day. If he had yet to do so, he would send appreciation e-mails to his staff, write a letter to a family member, and so on…in other words, he found ways to reach out to people he appreciated.
I’m sure there are a variety of ways we could implement a similar system, either hard copy or digitally. I like using the reminders app on my phone. While I’m diligent about saying thank you to people in general (family, friends, store clerks, customer service people, anyone who lends me a hand with anything, etc), I don’t really go out of my way to tell people that I appreciate them. And it wasn’t until just now that I came to that realization. I can see there’s a subtle, yet powerful, difference between saying “thank you” and “I appreciate you”. With “thank you”, it’s more about what someone did for you. With “appreciation”, it’s more about the person than the action.
A good mindfulness practice would be to come up with a way to make appreciation a habit for you.
So how about you? Do you tell people you appreciate them? Is it a habit? Or is it only when someone goes out of there way to be helpful?
“Everyone wants to be appreciated,
— Mary Kay Ash
so if you appreciate someone,
don’t keep it a secret.”
Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
All Things Mandalas
An Invitation
I invite you to color along with me this year as part of what I’m calling “The Year of Self-Exploration and Expansion” with all of my “Mandalas of the ___” (day, week, month, year). If you’re interested in more of a self-exploration approach to coloring, check out my “Coloring Mandalas as Meditation”. You can download this mandala at MandalaoftheWeek.com.
Mandala of the Day 