Wisdom from Grace

 "Appreciate yourself." --My massage therapist

I have been feeling unappreciated as of late.

By my husband. By my kids. By the mailman (I am always super-friendly to him, but left to his own devices he pretty much does his job and doesn't bother with pleasantries).

So when my massage therapist asked me what was going on for me emotionally right now, I told her how I was feeling and why. Expecting her to come back with empathy ("That must feel terrible.") or commiseration ("Those ungrateful people!") what I got instead was a radical reframe of the issue at hand.

She paused for a few moments, as if really thinking it through, and then said, "What if you were to appreciate yourself for all you do?"

At first I thought she was talking crazy. Appreciate MYSELF?!? Isn't the whole point of appreciation that it comes from someone else?

Or is it?

We all want to hear "Thank you," when we do something nice for someone else or, "Way to go!" when we accomplish something significant or particularly difficult, but does it really have to come from the mouths of others?

I am not sure, but I am willing to give it a try. For the rest of this week I am going to appreciate myself.

"Thanks for buying groceries today Lara, we really needed food in the house."

"Thanks for doing that load of laundry, I needed socks badly."

"Hey, Lara nice small stone you wrote today. I really appreciate how you are paying more attention to your life."

I'm not one hundred percent convinced that this will work, but I am willing to give it a try. If only to get a little bit of appreciation around here! :)

[Speaking of small stones, in preparation for a class I am teaching to my son's fifth grade class in October I am doing my own small stone challenge this month. You can find my small stones at http://pebblesaresmallstones.blogspot.com/]