Gifts of God

One of the most basic needs we have is a desire to be appreciated. Sometimes we get so used to certain things being done for us, that we forget to appreciate all of the effort that goes into them. It could be getting everything prepared to help start the day, working to make sure everyone is ready and on time. We never have to shout at or ask our mother that tea or breakfast is not ready, it is always ready before we even wake up. When father returns home from office, we never expect him to do the dishes or cook food, we always expect our mother to do it. Even when she returns home from her workplace, we always expect her to do everything for us. Even though she is tired, she tries her best to keep everyone happy. She always puts everyone else’s needs first never being able to relax or take a pause for even a second, putting on a smile after having such a long day. But sometimes, we see some mess around, we easily ask them what they did the whole day, but we don’t pay attention to the regular work done every day. This just makes them sad and all of the hard work goes to waste. We usually think of work as having to go into an office or a workplace, but the truth is just as much work happens back at home, it’s just not as appreciated. Sometimes all it takes is to acknowledge your mother’s hard work or even take a second to appreciate everything she does, the smile on her face would make your day.

Time is such an elusive thing; we can never stop it and we can never bring it back. The challenge is, when we have time with the people that we love, we take it for granted. Parents are usually the people whom we take them for granted. We are so busy in our life now that we barely even talk to our parents. Teenagers often grow irritated and file away their advices as the run-of-the-mill parental emotional blackmail. But after some time, we understand the importance of it. Only when we have very little time left with them, that’s when we want it the most, but by then its already too late. We shouldn’t wait until that time is gone to appreciate what’s right in front of us right now, because a day will come in which we wish we could do anything to bring that time back.

We should appreciate the people around us. There are people who do make a difference in our life in the most unknown way, but if they weren’t there, life wouldn’t be as it is. Take time to acknowledge their presence, appreciate their support. Humans, by nature, are social beings and nothing pleases or attaches to us more than some simple gratitude shown by people around us or people we do not know. According to Dalai Lama, “the root of all goodness lies in the soil of appreciation for goodness.”