Appreciation

 Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.  Voltaire

I’ve found that when I can put myself in the place of another’s current culmination of their success, I can fully appreciate—at least as much as my imagination can support—what it took for them to have arrived at that place. I’m not claiming it as my own, but I am feeling the excellence of their own hard work and life experience. I am respecting their journey, which adds to my own.

More valuable than that, when I look at a person who has gone through their own dark night of the soul and emerged a changed person, I want to know them. I want to listen to them, and benefit from what they can now give from a place of having changed at a soul level. What did they experience? What happened? What did they do along the way? How did they manage?

When I listen to the stories of those who have triumphed, I receive the gift of hope for myself. When I find that I have been the one who emerges stronger and more aware, I want to be the person who shares that strength. I can’t do it for anyone else, just as no one could fight my battles for me. We’re all alone but together, if that makes sense.

Today, I am so grateful for having emerged from the battles I’ve faced; those experiences will aid me when new challenges arise, and they will. I will share my experiences, my hopes, and the strength I’ve gained as a result with anyone who asks, and I will listen to those who care enough to share their own. 

We lone beings are all stronger together, appreciating each other fully.