Appreciation is defined two ways.  “Gratitude or thankful recognition”, and “An increase or rise in the value”.

Type one is the one we typically think of when we are talking about appreciating people and liking what they are doing for us.  ”I appreciate all that my wife does around the house.” “I appreciate the waiter bringing my food quickly.”  ”I appreciate the sacrifices my parents made to raise me.”  Stuff like that.  I think most people would have a pretty good grasp on what it feels like to truly “appreciate” someone in this way.  Whether we show it or not is another thing, but I think we can all at least understand the idea.

Type two is defined in the value that we put on things.  The “rise in value”.  ”My house has appreciated twenty-five percent in five years.”  ”This baseball card is appreciating more and more every year.” Things that we place value on.  What is somethings “worth” and how is that appreciating.

I’ve been up since about four-thirty thinking about the word “appreciate” and I started to realize that though there are two very different ways that I have viewed this word, if I combine the meanings it takes on a completely different shape in my mind

I know, without a doubt, that I don’t express my appreciation to people as much as I should and I have realized that it’s one of the most frustrating things to me to feel under appreciated.  I think we would all hate to feel like we are doing something of worth for someone and not even feel their “type one” appreciation.  Let alone their acknowledgment of “type two” appreciation. 

Here’s the kicker for me, (Please don’t think that I feel like I am reinventing anything here.  It’s early and I’m just typing as I’m thinking) I think I would appreciate what people did for me more if I looked at it in the “type two” way.  What I mean by that is simply, if I can find the value in what someone is doing, I can then appreciate it more than if I am just thankful for them doing it.  Does that make sense?  

If I see the value of what my wife does around the house every day, I can look at that with different eyes.  Not in a monetary sense obviously, but more in the health and well-being of our home sense.  If I can get past simply being grateful for what she is doing and see the real worth of it, I can appreciate it differently.  The same goes with employees or co-workers.  If I can see the real value of what they are doing to better a company or product, it’s helps me appreciate what they are doing more than just being thankful.

I don’t know if this is anything new to you, but to me and my quest to “appreciate” and be “appreciated” this hit me differently this morning.  Try that today.  Try to view the things that people are doing for you as valuable, and appreciate them in a way that acknowledges their worth.  I wonder if we will see things differently.

What do you think?