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A Little More Appreciation

"You know he feels somewhat not so appreciated. That he is doing so much at work, sacrificing so much for his family, but nobody seems to acknowledge that. Maybe that is why I feel he is withdrawing into himself more and more".

It was possible, but it never occurred to me that this thought would predominate his day to day life. When you care about or love someone, sometimes it might seem like that would suffice, though truth be told, it might not. I once remember hearing  story, when a frustrated husband, late into his marriage, complained to his wife that she never told him that she loved him.

 "I have washed you clothes, cooked your food and reared your children. Is that not enough?'

A man asking for more would make the perfect fodder for today's feminists. However, we humans are fickle, irrational and ever so emotional. We want our efforts to be acknowledged by our bosses, our status to be seen by the society, our love to be validated by our partners and our contribution to be praised by our family. Therefore we are destined to live a dissatisfied lives because our happiness is dependant on other creatures, as fickle, as irrational and as emotional as us.

True happiness has to come from within. That is starting to make more and more sense now.
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