by Lesley Rigg

Created on: August 20, 2008   Last Updated: December 30, 2010

Praise for a job well-done, or thanks for a gift or help with child-care. Both of these deserve a show of appreciation, and are essentially different types of help, to be acknowledged in slightly different ways.

Generally, in the work place, praise is the key. Making it public knowledge that a peer, colleague or staff member has helped you achieve a goal or made a task happen more easily is often what co-workers require. Acknowledgment is often all that is required. If it is co-worker or a staff member you can always add a bag of favourite candy or get that person's lunch while out yourself. All of these small issues show that you know you are in that person's debt in some small way.

For a friend or family member who helps you in some way in your personal life, the scope for showing appreciation is much greater and can be a great deal more imaginative. Think about the person who has helped you.

What are their interests and hobbies? Do they enjoy needlecraft, would a small cross-stitch or embroidery present be appreciated? Perhaps, they like a certain event, football, baseball or the theatre. Would a pair of tickets to one of these events be appreciated?

If you can't afford expensive thank-yous, then there are lots of other things that are appreciated. Does the person that you are indebted to have any responsibilities, elderly parents who need to go shopping, children who require a babysitter, a rather large garden that needs work. All of these things cost little, but can mean a great deal to a busy person.

Do you have a skill that you could offer. Can you take good photographs? Take pictures of the person's family at a gathering and have them put into one of the many photo-books now available to have printed, or in a frame for them. The same applies if you can draw or paint, perhaps they have a pet that they would like a lasting memory of.

Sometimes though, your friends or family just really appreciate your time. Perhaps they don't see you enough and would appreciate a nice long lunch somewhere, as simple as a picnic in the park where they can talk about their lives and you can listen. Often an under estimated and valued skill that is really vital to other people's sense of self-worth.

Think about how you would like to show your appreciation to those in your life. Not only is it quite simple and will suggest itself to you based on the person, but you will probably get a great deal from it too.

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