A Person I Appreciate - Essay Example

Giving valueGiving valueOne of the people whom I chose to appreciate is my uncle who is a humble and generous man. I once stayed with him when my parents relocated and he treated me as his own. He has since maintained contact with me and ensures constant communication. In an attempt to appreciate him for the role that he has taken in my life, I told him just a sentence in the middle of a conversation that, “you have become more than a relative to me; you have become a real father.” This statement touched him and I, for a moment thought that it was a bad approach to appreciating him.

He looked away for a while, as though he was not impressed, but turned to face me while wiping drops of tear from his eyes. We hugged for some time, like two minutes, then shared with me the reason behind his love for my generation in our extended family and for people who are in need. It was a sad story of his personal experience as child, of suffering and struggling to help in raising his sibling. He told me how the struggle shaped his love for his sibling that has extended to their children and any person who is in need, and that as he felt the burden of caring for his brothers and sisters, he still feels the burden of caring for us.

He then explained the emotional response. None of us has ever appreciated his efforts at that personal and direct level. The response also made me special because I was the first person to do an extraordinary thing in his life. I realized that my appreciation satisfied his self-actualization need, based on Maslow’s theory of motivation (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coutler, 2014) and that I should appreciate him more often and that I should extend appreciations to other people. I also appreciated a long-term friend with whom we were in elementary school.

He also helped me to settle down in high school. He has been of great help in my times of need, sharing with me his experiences and lessons he has learnt in life, extending financial support in case of an emergency need, and offering emotional support. I had taken all these for granted, with a mere ‘thank you,’ but during one of our social times, reminded him of all the support he had accorded me and told him that he is kind and special to me. He was impressed, smiled, and told me that you must just care for some people, whether they appreciate you or not, and I understood applicability of Maslow’s theory on need to meet social needs such as having friends and caring for them (Pride, Hunges, and Kapoor, 2011).

That nature just creates some strong bonds that people can break. He however acknowledged how special my appreciation made him feels. I was happy about his positive response that also made me feel more special. The experience informed me that appreciating people contributes to their self-worth and helps the individual, who has appreciated, to learn more about how he or she is valued. The developmental exercise is significant to social interactions. It informed me of the significance of appreciation to involved parties, and its possible effects of strengthening interpersonal relationships and meting people’s various needs.

I will appreciate people more often and would encourage other to be appreciative. ReferencePride, W., Hunges, R., and Kapoor, J. (2011). Business (11th Ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. Robbins, S., Bergman, R., Stagg, I., and Coutler, M. (2014). Management. Melbourne: Pearson Australia.