Praising people is not easy…..

Appreciating achievements or little deeds of others can sometimes get very pricky for us. In today’s world, people (even close relatives, apart from parents) are extremely envious of each other. They cannot tolerate success earned by others, especially if the other guy is supposedly as good as he/she is.

There would be many people like you and me who would spare no words in praising a genius like Sachin Tendulkar, because we know that we can never be as good as he is. However, if one of our neighbors plays even for the state side, we get jealous, and start spreading detestable rumours to malign his reputation. We feel that in spite of staying in the same locality as we have, and enjoying the same facilities as we have, how dare he play cricket well, and we can’t even hold a cricket bat.

It takes a lot of guts and courage to go out and praise people who are just like you and me. Everybody cannot do it easily. They feel insecure, they feel that “many people would anyway be praising him/her, so what is the point in my praising him/her”. They feel that “If I go and praise him/her, I would become even more inferior to him/her than ever before” and so on, and so forth. To me this is a sign of genuine weakness. People, who are mentally strong, never hold themselves back in praising others for the smallest reasons possible. In fact they enjoy doing so. Statements like “You are a very good speaker/writer/singer”; “There would be no one who would be so supportive to me as you have been”; “You have excellent sense of style”; “You are extremely jovial and humble”;“You are very polite and understanding”; “You are a very versatile individual with varied talents” etc. are very insignificant to many, but it does act as a huge source of encouragement to others, and also in no way make you inferior. It only highlights the fact that you are a very sound-minded individual who is willing to accept the success of others without any hitch.

So, even if you think that you are very good at something, but people do not praise you enough, do not prevent yourself from praising others. The holy books say that all of us are creations of God, and if you have the courage to praise others for the good qualities they possess or some good thing that they have done, you would be praising God. So unleash yourself from this bond of jealousy and insecurity and praise at least one person a day. Also remember, that life is like a wavy ocean where you would definitely get back what you give.