Whom did you appreciate today?

I was out on a walk with a close friend of mine, and it's a tale of that sultry evening in August, which you can only see getting any better when you're bitching about a common classmate that everyone hates.

But, hating is a strong word. And I say we don't usually hate things, ideas or even people. What we perceive as hatred may be just be something or someone that we don't understand. As for me, there was a point of time until which I couldn't appreciate art.

So, I tried to ask him into why'd he think that he hated that guy. Turns out that it was because he didn't even try to appreciate anyone. His remarks were always condescending (Oops!). So, even if my friend had burnt the midnight oil and came up with something outstanding (we're working on models made out of cardboard back then), he would come up to him and remark, "Sheesh! That's nothing to be proud of, anyone could have done that."

Appreciation, I said. How important is it?

Well, there's folklore...

nce upon a time, an old man, probably in his 70s, went up to a famous artist. His tired and weary eyes were devoid of excitement and his pale brown skin displayed some deep and prominent wrinkles.

This young artist, though, was at the zenith of his career, extremely skilled and flamboyant, which made him the best candidate to get an honest critique from.

The old man handed him some paintings he'd been working on the past few days while pleading him that he'll not be offended and he's seeking an honest review. The artist, held his intense stare at the works for a quite a while, and sighed deeply and said, "I'm sorry, but the man who drew this paintings has really no knowledge of what is art. I'm sorry."





To this the old man, took out some more works from his torn and worn out bag, and handed them out to the artist, "And what do you think about these?", and one could clearly see the artist's eyes gleaming with a newfound energy. "Wow! Amazing!", he almost jumped out of his seat.

These works are out of the world, whoever this person is, he could become an idol in this field of art, I'm sorry, but is he your grandson?

It was evident that the old man's eyes were becoming wet as he collected his work to put them back in his bag. He answered, almost as a whisper, for he couldn't bring himself to speak,

No, this is me, when I was my grandson's age. I had a natural flair for painting, but no one appreciated my work like you did today. So, I never continued. Only if someone back then said I was good, I could've been an artist extraordinaire.

Which brings us to...

Appreciation can make or break a person's life. And it can make you favoured for taking the time to value someone else's work. Beware, this is difficult, it takes courage to appreciate someone who's doing the same things you're doing, better than you are doing. Perhaps it makes you feel like it’s some sort of a competition. But this shouldn't stop you from appreciating someone. Or should it?

Lastly, when someone appreciates you, be sure that you're accepting it.