Appreciate what one has

People fail to appreciate what they have until they lose it and it is the norm of average human. Many a time we see colleagues who whine about the company and leave, only to realize the challenges exist everywhere. We see folks who do not pay attention to health in prime days and suffer illness. They regret later that they should have paid attention to body. “I felt sad that I had no shoe until I met a person who has no legs.”

It is easy to crib about tiny imperfections in our loved one. Little do we think about the positive value they add to our lives and how much vacuum our life would be when they are not around?

We find parents pressurizing the kids for not scoring top grades, comparing them with neighborhood kids.  They fail to appreciate the talents of their own kid and encourage them for the gifts they possess. While there is nothing wrong in expectations, excessive obsession and comparison is not good for the kids. Also the parents will appreciate the good fortune of having a normal kid as there are many parents who are not fortunate enough to have normal kids. There are many aspiring parents who visit temples, doctors alike to get blessed with child. If we think in those peoples perspective, we can appreciate how blessed we are.

We don’t appreciate life when we are alive. This is excellently put by Apple founder Steve Jobs after he is diagnosed with Cancer “Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

Once we realize this and start appreciating what we have, life would be beautiful. All the petty problems disappear and we feel blessed for having the life we have.