The other day, Jesus spoke to me. Reminded me of my worth, reminded me that I matter. It didn't come through a booming voice or a soft nudging, but from the encouragement of others. I'm not sure what I'm doing right, but I do know that Jesus is using me, somehow in spite of that way I feel pretty inadequate right now. But for some reason, people--close friends and random people-- appreciate me.
I was flattered and surprised and curious. It's a strange thing to hear that you're appreciated, but I don't think it's a good thing that we, as humans, the greatest creations to ever exist, see this feeling as "strange". I mean, shouldn't our appreciation of others constantly be on our lips? Why is it such a random, uncommon thing to hear praise from others?
I don't mean this like I should always be complimented; please don't confuse me that way. Believe me, I should definitely be fussed at more often. But I think it's maybe a problem that our appreciation for the people around us takes them by surprise. We should constantly be reminding the people that influence us of their worth.
Anyway. Naturally, because I think too much, hearing appreciation for me led to thinking about people that I under-appreciate. It's no shock to me to realize that I take people for granted; not that it's right, but that I KNOW undoubtedly that it's true.
So here's a list of people that I think we (I, I, I) should appreciate more. Some are maybe "bigger" than others, but we all have an important role to play. I encourage you to thank these people, often and genuinely. And add your own people as fit, then thank them, too, often and genuinely.
1. Post Office workers.
This is highly due to the fact that I think written words are one of the highest forms of flattery for another person. I mean, everyone loves receiving mail. It touches something deep in our hearts to know that someone took time out to think about us and even beyond that, wrote us to us; bought a stamp; addressed it solely to us. And without the people that work endless hours to make sure our mail is sent and received, mail wouldn't be a thing. That sounds kind of ridiculous, but really, without people to deliver our hand-written notes or our Christmas cards or our care packages, we wouldn't be able to send them.
2. Our bosses.
We think that our jobs are hard? Our bosses have to handle us (Lord help mine), the people we work with (uhh.. ditto here cause I can't even handle those people), and they have even more responsibility (read: weight on their shoulders, much more) than us. It's easy to question them and to bad-talk them, but they have a lot of pressure on them.
3. "Sweet" people.
You know those people that you just think of as "sweet" when they come to mind? Those people are special. What a compliment. Candy is sweet, chocolate is sweet, puppies and bunnies are sweet, so for someone who is jacked-up and sinful and dishonest and struggling and everything else to be described as "sweet", that means a lot. These people are humble, caring, and committed. Find your sweet people and love on them a lot.
4. Mechanics.
If you say you haven't lost your head when a part of your car broke, you're lying big time. Our worlds stop when we lose our transportation. Without mechanics, fixing cars would be our responsibility (gasp and cry).
5. Journey, the band.
Don't Stop Believin
Without Journey, we wouldn't have Don't Stop Believing. And if I told you how many times this song has made me better, I'd be so embarrassed. Crank it way up and dance because we're people and we have power, dang it.
6. "You look cute/pretty/beautiful/happy/lovely today."
We should (1.) love these people better and (2.) say this more often. Everyone loves to hear this.
7. Roommates.
Your roommates (or the people you live with) see A LOT. They see you upset, mad, crying, happy, stressed, frustrated, aggravated, eating your body weight in Oreos, heartbroken, with no makeup on, when you're annoying, messy, barely clothed, everything. And somehow, they still put up with you. Cheers to mine.
8. Godmothers.
It doesn't get much better than a person who commits to care for you if anything happens to your parents before they even know you. I know that without my godmother, I wouldn't be half the person I am now. I owe a lot to that woman that opened her house, her heart, her prayers, her wallet, and her sacrifices for me. I'll never forget those prayers and goodnight kisses before bed, those crazy, long, summer days of playing Bratz with buffets of random things to eat for lunch, those hunts for golfball-sized spiders, those nights spent watching tv together, those long weekends at the lake, tubing and swimming and laughing, so much laughing.
9. Authors and Artists and Bakers
I genuinely believe that these three take passion. Authors and artists and bakers have a special passion for life. They believe that they (a) have something to be said, (b) have something to be seen, and/or (c) have something that needs creating. They have jobs for their joy and for our joy; it doesn't get much better than that.
10. Kids Under 8
There's something really majestic about kids that see the world through an unfiltered lens. They see color and happy and they don't have a care in the world. This is to be observed heavily and noted heavily. We should strive to have this kind of child-like view of things again. We're so clouded up by caring what people think.
11. Friends that call just to tell you funny stories.
This is a forgotten art because we can simply text about it. But people have emotions and voices have inflections and a phone call offers both of those.
12. Grandparents.
I didn't realize how I took mine so for granted until they started passing away. The world is a better place because of grandparents and I regret never knowing mine better. There's something about someone that has wisdom and has been through some stuff and has seen some stuff and can offer insight into our little stuffs. I also think that this has to do with our really irrational fear of older people. And I can only say that because up until I listened to a 72 year old man preach the gospel and teach me about relationships and about life and about love, I was one of those that was uncomfortable around old people. They're normal people, too, you know.
There's about a million more people to add to this. It's easy for us to under-appreciate people. We take a lot for granted. This is one thing I vow to work on, though. Blessings are only blessings when you count them.
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