14 votes

What's something you don't appreciate as much as you probably should?

I was thinking about how I can get caught in negative/critical thought patterns and fail to give gratitude to the people and things in my life that I love and spend time with. I end up taking a lot for granted or spending too much of my mental energy critiquing small flaws instead of appreciating the bigger, better picture.

As such, I'm curious to hear about stuff in your life. It can be big or small. It can be a person or a thing, or a person behind a thing (e.g. I'm grateful to the people that grow and roast the beans in my favorite coffee). What deserves more love and admiration in your life?

6 comments

  1. VoidOutput
    Link
    Not having any kind of physical handicap. We as a society don't do nearly as much as we could to make it possible for everyone to enjoy what we commonly enjoy. Government offices, websites,...

    Not having any kind of physical handicap. We as a society don't do nearly as much as we could to make it possible for everyone to enjoy what we commonly enjoy. Government offices, websites, hospitals, cultural events, etc...

    13 votes
  2. [2]
    The_Fad
    Link
    My parents and how much they've helped my family rise out of abject poverty without just handing it to us. They help(ed) us when we need(ed) it and never made it seem like anything but a hand up,...

    My parents and how much they've helped my family rise out of abject poverty without just handing it to us. They help(ed) us when we need(ed) it and never made it seem like anything but a hand up, rather than a hand out. I shower them with praise, patience, and love already but it never feels like it's enough. We literally may not be together or even alive without them and I physically cannot express my gratitude enough. Someday I'll figure out a way, though, hopefully.

    10 votes
    1. kfwyre
      Link Parent
      Parents! They are the unsung heroes of the world, and it sounds like yours did a phenomenal job. Parenting is hard enough, but parenting plus poverty? Nigh insurmountable. They sound like modern...

      Parents!

      They are the unsung heroes of the world, and it sounds like yours did a phenomenal job. Parenting is hard enough, but parenting plus poverty? Nigh insurmountable. They sound like modern miracle workers to me.

      The older I get, the more respect I get for parents. This is a weird position for me in particular to take, as I have nearly every reason to be critical of parents and have spent much of my life doing exactly that. My relationship with my own parents is still being restructured after the fallout from me coming out to them. They didn't accept me, and I resented the years of growing up under their homophobic religious teachings, so we parted ways and are only just now putting back together the pieces of a broken relationship.

      So I've got that. I'm also a teacher, and thus unfortunately get to see parents who do not take their role as parents seriously, as well as those that abuse or neglect their children. Though those parents are not the norm, it's hard to not let them take up more mental space than they should and shift the whole concept of parenting far in their dark direction.

      So while I could be cynical about parents, I instead think they're awesome. Most parents are downright, unconditionally awesome for what they do. The decision to recenter their lives on a child or several in order to give them opportunities and help them become independent and fulfilled beings is, just... wow. I can't imagine being that selfless.

      I didn't really appreciate it until I aged into the situation where a large number of my peers are married and have children of their own. I see how much effort goes into everyday things: making lunches, making sure someone's there to pick up the kids off the bus, making sure they go to bed, making sure they don't injure themselves, making sure they learn to pick up after themselves, making sure they eat their vegetables when all they want is sugar, making sure their homework is done, making sure their clothes are washed and the floor is scrubbed after they found a Sharpie you left out, etc. That alone is a full-time job, much less adding in obligations like doctor's appointments, sports practices, music lessons, recitals, extended family visits, school events, etc.

      Seeing all of this has helped me forgive my own parents, actually. For so long all I could see was the damage they'd done to me by directly contributing to the toxicity of the homophobic environment I grew up in. I can't understate how damaging that was, and it was nearly fatal to me. I, rightfully, couldn't look past that. However, in hindsight, as I've grown, I have learned to appreciate so much more about them. They were always there for me, always fed me, always showed up to my events. They bought me new clothes when I needed them, let me explore hobbies of interest, taught me good habits and (mostly) good values. They did so much right and contributed so much to who I am today, and it's a shame that so much of the richness of a parent/child relationship was spoiled by a prejudice they couldn't even see because it was everywhere at the time.

      So yeah, it's taken me a long time but I genuinely think parents, even my own, are awesome. They lay the framework for the future. They are the supports for people who cannot yet support themselves. They are selfless and serving in thousands of invisible ways. They are the leaders that few see and appreciate as such. And they definitely deserve more love and appreciation than they get.

      2 votes
  3. [3]
    Wes
    Link
    I'm constantly amazed at the human body's ability to repair itself. It's almost like magic. Cuts, burns, scratches. Even serious infections and the body can usually figure it out. That's just...

    I'm constantly amazed at the human body's ability to repair itself. It's almost like magic. Cuts, burns, scratches. Even serious infections and the body can usually figure it out.

    That's just amazing to me. It might as well be a super power.

    8 votes
    1. [2]
      Cosmos
      Link Parent
      To think that everytime you get hurt (and even before you get hurt), there are millions of tiny organisms working together to heal you is just mind blowing. And even more mind blowing is how...

      To think that everytime you get hurt (and even before you get hurt), there are millions of tiny organisms working together to heal you is just mind blowing.

      And even more mind blowing is how people have figured out all kinds of ways to help out those tiny organisms whenever they get stumped. Like vaccines that show them a dead or benign form of a virus, so that they know what to look out for.

      6 votes
      1. The_Fad
        Link Parent
        Or even the fact that it works! Can you imagine trying to teach a person how to fight by showing them the dead bodies of potential foes? It would be a total wash. But these tiny little bastards...

        so that they know what to look out for

        Or even the fact that it works! Can you imagine trying to teach a person how to fight by showing them the dead bodies of potential foes? It would be a total wash. But these tiny little bastards are like, "Oh, those things? Alright cool, we'll handle it." AND THEN THEY JUST GO ON WITH THEIR BAD SELVES LIKE WHAT THEYRE DOING ISNT INCREDIBLE.

        6 votes