I have been thinking a lot about appreciation lately.  My friend, Susan Yates, and I received awards at the ABA conference, reflecting appreciation of us.  As award recipients often do, we talked about people who we appreciated for helping us in our careers.

After Elayne Greenberg’s death, I reflected on how I appreciated her and her scholarship.

It Can Be Hard

It can be hard to feel positive and appreciative these days.  The political situation in the US and much of the world is depressing.  There are many serious social problems that are ignored and getting worse.  News and social media have a well-known bad-news bias.  People may struggle in their personal lives, dealing with problems with their families, workplaces, or communities.  People seem so busy these days.

Ironically, it may be hard to feel and express appreciation precisely because there are too many people and things to acknowledge in our daily lives, particularly “small things” that we take for granted.  We may assume that others know how much we appreciate them so we don’t need to express it explicitly.  It may even feel embarrassing to do so.

We can overcome these barriers.  Several years ago, I wrote a post describing benefits of giving appreciation.  Doing so creates value not only for the recipient but also for the provider of the appreciation.  I have written posts appreciating friends and colleagues, which made me feel good.  So I just created an appreciation tag to collect previous and future posts expressing appreciation.

The Time is Now

After an unexpected death like Elayne’s, we may think about the things we appreciated about the person but didn’t express during their lifetime.

Indeed, there was an amazing outpouring of emotions following the news of her passing.  Imagine how she would have felt to hear all these things.  Imagine how you would have felt to express your feelings to her directly.

This can be a good reminder to take a little time to express appreciation when you feel it.  You never can be sure if you will have the opportunity again.

It Can Be Easy

So, when you think of it, send someone a quick message (or give a call) saying, as specifically as appropriate, “Hey, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated …”