Day 30 - Power of Acknowledgment

Jog - done.

If I look at at my life so many people have contributed to my life - parents, siblings, teachers, friends, colleagues, public figures, authors and so on. The contributions have been of both types - direct & intended for me and indirect ones. Most of the times I know the impact each contributor has made. But we take them for granted and fail to acknowledge the source - the contributor. I may have acknowledged/talked to third parties about the people who contributed and their impact on my life. But rarely have I shared that (the impact of their contribution) directly with the people who made the difference in my life. This so evident especially with the close ones, notably the family members.

Yesterday night I was sharing with one of my friends about a coach of mine who inspires me for the stand he takes for others' life. My friend asked me if I ever acknowledged that to the coach directly. He distinguished that the coach does not do what he does expecting others to acknowledge him. But acknowledging him really makes his stand for other people so much more stronger. I got what he was saying. So I called up this coach. Since it's almost 5 years since he coached me, as expected he couldn't recollect who I was. But when I acknowledged his contribution to my life and when I thanked him, I felt he was touched. And I felt so good doing it.

After this I just got present to the fact that my eldest brother has been a great influence in my life. The contributions he has made to my life were life altering. If I have whatever success I have today, it was because of the bold steps he took. I was not even considering coming out of my hometown for my education. It was my brother who literally 'forced' me to inquire about better educational institutes and helped me take the most strategic decision of my life. I know that that one small thing altered my life beyond my imagination. The phase in Mysore, where I studied my engineering, was so important for me. I saw a holistic growth in me.

I have always spoken of this with my friends and other brothers but never with the one who made it possible. So yesterday I called him up and acknowledged him and thanked him. He was taken by surprise and said that he did whatever he did as his duty and that there was no necessity to thank him. But I still said 'thank you' and he got it. What happened after that was interesting. He started talking of things that were important to him. As he himself said later that he wouldn't have spoken these stuff thinking what would I think! What I saw was that he might not have spoken to anybody about these stuff, at least the way he spoke to me. Even if I did not change anything I know that it will at least make him feel lighter sharing with another human being.

A simple act of my acknowledging my brother got me back my brother the way he was when I was a kid or the way I was with him when I was a kid. And that experience is so powerful. I was not expecting that and it happened and, I felt so good about it. The Power of acknowledgment is truly amazing. You do it for no reason yet you get so much!!!