2-4-6-8, What Do You Appreciate?

My friend Leslie over at {Words of Me Project} has a cool thing going on at her blog. It’s called “52 Words Challenge” – 52 words, 52 weeks. Each week she provides a word for participants/readers to ponder and write about, and each word is a POSITIVE word.

That’s cool. There’s so much negativity swirling around us, it’s really soul-filling and refreshing to find people out there who are making an effort to fight off the negative and replace it with the positive.

This week’s word is APPRECIATIVE.

I think we all have a vague knowing of the meaning of the word. Dictionary definitions (see below) are relatively straight-forward (and boring, I might add)…

To appreciate is to grasp the worth or significance of something;
          to value or admire highly;
                    to recognize the value of something;
                              to increase the value of something;
                                        to express admiration, approval, or gratitude.

… but these definitions lack the emotion that is present when we are truly appreciative.

Appreciation is similar to gratitude, but I believe that to appreciate something is one step above simply being thankful. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not saying gratitude isn’t a good thing. Rather, I believe that appreciation is gratitude magnified.

For example:


I am grateful for food on the table –

and I appreciate that it is fresh, tasty, and makes me healthy.

I am grateful for family and friends –

and I appreciate that they love me for who I am not what I do.

I am grateful for a job –

and I appreciate that I am paid well and treated fairly.

See how it goes?

Give it a try, and share it with me. It’s actually kind of fun to see how you can “magnify” your gratitude into appreciation. I find that it makes me more keenly aware of the blessings in my life.

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

Author Unknown