Day One-Hundred and Thirteen ... Proactive Acknowledgment

This interesting quote is from the Mike Robbins book I just finished. Yesterday I opened up the book to see if I had anything to add to my notes before I lent the book out. The quote jumped out at me and it is worth pondering some more.

"Remind  people who they are instead of just complimenting them on what they've done. Praise and acknowledgment is nice, but that's a bit like telling you dog that his tail wags really well. The idea is to focus on the person behind the accomplishment or problem. It's the fundamental distinction of who versus what. When you help the person get more in touch with who they are, they'll produce better whats. If you focus primarily on the whats you'll soon be expecting the tail to wag the dog."          -Thomas J. Leonard

Our modem is on the fritz and this quote was intended for yesterday's post. It was entirely too much to type it up on my phone's keyboard though. Instead I let it go and saved it for today.

Proactive acknowledgment is an interesting term to me. I make a point of expressing gratitude whenever someone does something nice for me. It is a newer concept to express gratitude for who the person is and their presence in my life. I am sure I have done that, but perhaps not consciously or with the intent to do just that. I can see it as spreading a bit of joy though and brightening up someone's day simply for who they are. Not for any gain whatsoever.

Something I struggle with personally is self-worth and feeling worthy in general. Worthy of anything. It was pointed out to me in the past that many things that I do for people is an attempt to try to make myself feel worthy of their friendship, love or approval. I can see where that is true. I can also see where proactive acknowledgment will go a long way towards helping someone else feel worthy without sending the silent and often unintended message that they need to do something in order to receive acknowledgment or be worthy of acknowledgment.

It is an opportunity I am happy to take on in the future.

One other note, I started my "Sunshine Folder" today and already have several things in there. Each thing I put in that folder made me smile at the memory. It will be a good practice to pursue.

What are you grateful for today?
-Nicola Byrne

By learning to see our challenges as opportunities, we take our power back from the situations, circumstances and outcomes of our lives. Our ability to appreciate difficulties, learn from them and use them to our advantage, gives us important insight into who we really are and how to create success and fulfillment in a conscious, deliberate and authentic way.
-Mike Robbins