Appreciate (December 14)

..still catching up... the list of stupendous Reverb 10 Prompts still inspires me to reflect and write more about 2010.
for December 14th the was prompt: Appreciate – What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it?

Of all the things I have to be grateful for, in 2010 I have realized how much I value a certain type of person... people who are on the same wavelength!
This does not mean agreeing or having the same interests on everything, no. However, that can be rather amusing and worth appreciating if it's for the long-term benefit of a hilarious situation. But for me it is more about people who are willing to be themselves, genuine and open but respectful of themselves and others. I have been so terribly lucky to find these people all over the place in 2010. Sometimes just out of the blue and other times like socks hidden in the back of a drawer – and when I am around these people it feels much easier to be myself, to enjoy life and to be grateful.

I was given the most insightful, simplest way to show my appreciation for these people: tell them. One of these very people made it a point, in 2009, to ask only for birthday acknowledgement was to encourage all his friends to tell the people who are important in one’s life just how much they mean to you. I called three dear people in my life (perhaps three because I am an overachiever or just love sharing good vibes). I explained this friend’s birthday wish. I thanked them for being the wonderful, loving, same-wavelength-dwelling people that they are to me.

That simple gift (more to me than anyone) became extraordinarily meaningful to me in the wake of one of these dear people suddenly passing away that same year. Thus, this expression of gratitude for the supportive, inspiring and genuine people I meet has become a regular practice in my life and I am eternally grateful for it.