Attention Seeker...
Why do you do the things you do? Whether it's your job, a hobby (like art, music), blogging, why do you do those things? Do you do them for recognition? Do you do them to get some joy out of the activity? Do you do them to help others?I recently read a status update that was basically someone whining about not getting recognized for something she did at work that she felt deserved appreciation and recognition. Hence my question, why do you do the things you do?
I know I'd feel like poo if I spent hours working on something (say a mural) and put it on the highway or on the wall of a well-populated building, and people just drove or walked right past it without even looking in its direction to avoid a tree trunk blowing into their eyes. But in this hypothetical case, I put it out there for people to enjoy, appreciate, comment, critique and nobody did.
Is it the same principle with every aspect of our lives though? Do we do our jobs for recognition or to help others (e.g. police officers, firemen, therapists)? Do we join associations that aim to help others (like Amnesty and Green Peace and Seventh Generation) so that people will see our efforts and praise them or the reward is to see others happy? Do we blog so we can get the most comments of congratulations or because we just wanted to air our heads (or any other reason you might blog)?
Is it a case of "If you don't thank me, you don't love me...
" ?
Comments (7)
I do things only to please me and not for recognition. I help my neighbor because he deserves it. I try not to gossip or judge because I know I am imperfect.
The exception is obeying God and I am terrible when it comes to that, but HE knows that I am a sinner and HE loves me just the way I am because I have faith in HIS son Jesus Christ!
But when I was a young man I fell into the recognition trap. It was sad and I try not to be there anymore!
Sur, that was a really lovely piece.
And, I do get the difference between attention and recognition but you can't recognize until you attend. And the person I mentioned in the blog post seemed to feel that nobody even noticed that she did something.
Ed, it's funny that you should mention that knowing that your God loves you just the way you are is enough. She is a very religious person and I think she hasn't reached that point in her life where she can say to herself, "I don't need other people to pat me on the back to know that what I do is making a positive impact in somebody's life".
Personally, I try to not get too frustrated when I don't see the results of my work, but if I'm not thanked, it's certainly not a big deal...