Khoi Vinh’s shared on his blog today about being present and appreciating others.
Really resonated with me, particularly as a Scot! What struck me was how, event if we are ‘successful’, we may not really ‘live’. While this is not just a Scottish condition, we do have a a lot of it! Carol Craig (CEO of the Center for Confidence and Well Being) points out:
A further inhibiting factor in Scottish life is the Scots’ tendency to criticise and find fault rather than appreciate and praise. Indeed the Scots language overflows with critical and derogatory words while there is only a trickle of terms to show appreciation or convey affection. Ironically while criticism in Scotland is rife, the average Scot loathes being criticised. ‘It wasnae me’ or ‘you’re a fine one to talk’ are knee-jerk reactions to criticism in Scotland.
What about you?
…it’s not a sustainable strategy for living. I realized lately that I haven’t done a good job appreciating what I have or, especially, who I have in my life. I’m not completely without gratitude, but I have spent a lot of time in the company of people supposedly near to me while daydreaming about being elsewhere – thinking about design, or playing on my computer, or just not being present. On the whole, I think that I would have had a much nicer time these past three and a half decades – I would have had more fun - if I’d just been mentally there, if I’d really appreciated the people around me, let them know that I was there with them, and happily so. I’m going to start doing a better job with that. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
