So many times I’ve managed to forget…..Appreciation is key!

Appreciation is a super power. It doesn’t just feel good, it’s a way to generate energy, free of charge.

I've decided to make appreciation the most important and central part of my routine.

I want to thank at least 5 people or things every morning when I wake up and 5 more at night. They can be huge parts of my life or tiny little things that I can find beauty in.

Sometimes I will do an extra one in the afternoon and share it as a post 😃 like this.

#1

I’m thankful for my friend who I met last night. We have very different ways of approaching life. She is deep into the corporate culture but she respects and tries to support people who don’t want to be part of it. We met for the first time in 2 years and talked for 3 or 4 hours about her Muslim upbringing, her issues with corporate culture and how people in the office think.

She is almost like a spy for me, letting me know all the things that most people trying to work their way up the latter won’t tell you. She approaches things in a cut throat way but she has a button to turn it off when she is dealing with people like me who are not as dog-eat-dog. I really appreciate her unique way of living and the way she tries to support artists and freelancers.

#2

I appreciate the magic in life that can bring us together. She sent me a message after seeing my recent event on social media. She wanted to know when I had another event planned or when I could meet in ——station. I actually happened to be at —- station so I told her. She said she was about to pass by it and we decided to meet for a drink.

Not only were we in the same place at the same time but we were both pondering similar questions and exploring similar cultures and ideas.

She has a friend she wants to introduce to me from Ghana who is into similar things as me, and recently I’ve been interested in Ghana’s music scene and culture (as well as that whole region).

She wants to learn Mandarin too and so I gave her some tips. Those kind of parallels with friends are so incredible and fill me with wonder.

#3

I’m thankful for a Japanese friend who recently decided to take my class. He is running a successful business and it all came together by accident but he lets me see into the world of business through the eyes of someone like myself who never saw themselves as a business person.

He invited me to his house last week and I was surprised by both how successful he is and also how much he sticks to his guns and does things his own way. In some ways he’s made many more sacrifices than I think I am willing to make in order to raise his daughter but I’m inspired by just how much he respects her as a human.

I love watching them interact. He doesn’t really talk to her like she’s a kid and as a result, she’s incredibly mature for 5 years old. She isn’t shy at all.

If I do decide to have kids, I will certainly treat them like he does, and I love how much he teaches me about the world just by making my acquaintance.

#4

I appreciate how life can turn around in a moment. We always focus on when the Good turns bad but I’m starting to find that the good is never as far away as I think, and so I’m learning to change my habit of getting all mopey and depressed when things seem like they are falling apart.

Thanks to things falling apart a week ago, I realized just how important appreciation is, and once I started practicing it, things change almost overnight.

#5

I’m thankful for the strangers I pass in the city. In some ways most of them all look very similar, coming to and from work or with their kids or dresses in a school uniform, but I sense many different emotions on their faces. Even the similar ones have their own nuances to enjoy.

I feel some sensitive or stoic personalities and study their movements and find beauty in them. It’s only when I actively try to appreciate that I notice just how beautiful people are, but I want to make this my second nature.

🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
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