Thursday 1 February 2018

A little thought on appreciation & a challenge

I was reading The Wednesday Club and a little throwaway dialogue stuck with me:

 "Perhaps that is one of the shortfalls of reality," he said. "That we have to improve it even when it is at its most beautiful...Unless the shortfall isn't in reality, but us?"..."Like Garbo, perhaps," Mrs Wiik suggested. "The whole world admires her perfect profile, but all she can think about are her big feet."

 Isn't it funny how people don't see their own beauty, or fail to value their achievements? Some people who have achieved so much are always comparing themselves to others, and feeling like they've fallen short.

I travelled halfway around the world, and spent a small fortune to see the elusive Northern Lights. After only seeing the white grey ones, I will admit I was a little disappointed. I was talking to a Russian lady, later in the trip, who grew up in the Arctic circle in Russia. She said "We saw them all the time. I didn't even know they were anything special until I moved to New York at 20. People kept going on and on about them. They were no big deal to us."

 For me seeing the Northern Lights is such a mystical, magical experience - for the Russian, it was just something that happened all the time, like a full moon.  The same thing had a very different effect on us both. Our appreciation of the Aurora is what made the difference.

What makes something special is the value you place on it. So start placing value on yourself. On your achievements, on your successes, on your looks and personality. Start to appreciate all that you have, and all that you are. Don't diminish what you do when talking to others. And don't let anyone else belittle your efforts.

I know that all sounds a little silly, but give it a go this week and see if it makes a difference. I'd love to hear you responses.

Linking with #BooknificentThursday

18 comments:

  1. How true! I am going to share this with my son. He's an over achiever, always comparing with his peers and thinking that he's never good enough.

    #KCACOLS

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  2. Very true! We definitely need to appreciate the things we have and I definitely need to believe in myself more. My anxiety often makes me compare myself to others but I've been trying very hard not to! #KCACOLS

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  3. So true! I definitely need to appreciate things more and placing value on myself. I'm going to try this this week! #KCACOLS

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  4. Fabulous words of wisdom lovely. I definitely need to take this on board #KCACOLS

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  5. Such good advice and it's something I will definitely try out this week!

    Di from Max The Unicorn

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  6. Oooh, that's going to be a challenge. It is really hard not to down-play or be overly modest about our experiences and achievements. I'll give it a go. Pen x #KCACOLS

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  7. This doesn't sound silly at all to me, in fact it sounds very valuable and I will be making myself a sign to do just what you recommended!

    Ingrid
    http://www.fabulousandfunlife.blogspot.com.au

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  8. This is so true. We often think the grass is greener on the other side, when often it's right there in front of us #GlobalBlogging

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  9. so very true! Have a fabulous week and thank you for stopping by my blog last week. I enjoyed "meeting" you.

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  10. This is so true!! I try really hard to appreciate all the little things I can. It helps me be a happier person overall #TwinklyTuesday

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  11. Gold advice. I am pretty amazing... :) xx

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  12. love this. Appreciation is a common theme on my blog and one of the most important things I want to teach my daughter #KCACOLS

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  13. Such a goof post and appreciating the small things really makes you enjoy life a lot more X #twinklytuesday

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  14. It's difficult to do as I think many of us are programmed into being self deprecating. I want to get better at celebrating myself though, if only to set a positive example for my daughter. #fortheloveofBLOG

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  15. I've been trying to appreciate the little things a lot more as I am always comparing my life to others so thank you for sharing this lovely post with #KCACOLS :) We do hope you will join in again next time. Kate x

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  16. I completely agree, its certainly something I keep working on, I think its very easy to take things for granted. Thanks for sharing and linking up with #TwinklyTuesday. Hope you will be able to link up again soon x

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  17. You're so right, we really should place value on ourselves! Thanks for linking up to #fortheloveofBLOG x

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  18. I love this post! I agree with everything! If you can't value yourself, you cannot value anyone else! xoxo #kcacols

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