Have you ever asked yourself, am I feeling appreciated?
We all like being appreciated and knowing when we are appreciated makes us feel valued. But have you ever wondered why? What is it about receiving gratitude that nourishes us?
As adults, we also thrive on positive feedback from our environment. Being valued and appreciated reinforces a positive sense of self-worth. And there is a precious moment of contact when we are recognised and validated.
Someone we respect comments on our kindness or caring. Maybe a friend recognises and appreciates our goodness, wisdom, or compassion. We feel good when a person recognises qualities that we appreciate about ourselves. It feels good to be seen.
Being appreciated goes along with being liked. If you think about someone you appreciate because of their kind, caring, or friendly attitude, you probably like that person. There’s something about liking and being liked that as humans makes us feel really valued and gives us emotional gratification.
When someone offers appreciation for an article or talk, it reminds me that what I’m doing is meaningful. Hearing that I’ve affected somebody in some small way adds meaning to my life. It feels good to hear that I’ve affected someone in a positive way. As a foster parent, we appreciate everything you do in helping the lives of children who are recovering from trauma.
As human beings, we long for connection. During that precious moment when someone sees us, praises us, or validates us, a spontaneous connection can arise — if we’re open to it. Feeling appreciated strengthens the bond between people. It helps satisfy our longing for healthy attachment.
Sharing your feelings is always a good idea, maybe confide in someone you trust or in us, we would hate for you to feel undervalued and for us not to know! Outside of work, it may be a positive experience to try to model the behaviour you wish to see. Actively try to appreciate others, this may even make you feel better in itself but also it shows others how you wish to be treated.
Want to learn more about what you can do if you feel unappreciated? Take a look at this article by verywellmind.com.
Rest assure we appreciate you and all that you do for the children we look to help. During lockdown all our carers received a cream tea hamper to say an extra thank you for their dedication to our young people at this difficult time; and normally in the Summer we have a BBQ on the beach and invite all our carers, their young people and birth children to join us for fun in the sun! The carers can take time to chill and relax together and the team go crabbing or play rounders etc, but sadly we can’t do that this year.
Over 2 years ago we started a scheme to give our foster parents an Appreciation Award for the amount of time they have spent with the agency as we recognised that once people join us, they tend to stay! We mark their 1 year, 5 years and 10 years anniversary and along with the Award, they receive gift vouchers of their choice to treat themselves with.
If you are currently fostering, do you feel appreciated? Would you like to know more about our therapeutic fostering service? Why not take a look at our facebook and Instagram.
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