A culture of appreciation
It is debatable as to whether we lost the culture of appreciation- or did we not possess it at all. Collect a set of five fellow Bhutanese, and perhaps you hear them say “leaders did not do any good for nearly two decades and as a result we continue to suffer”. This might, to some extent, appears as a bitter truth; yet this is unreal. Everyone—leaders, public, intellectuals, academicians, experts, civil society members, writers, journalists, among others, have sacrificed their tireless contributions profoundly, at least for the sake of “real democracy” in Bhutan. The priceless efforts made by some of our fore leaders to resolve this issue are crystal clear in our minds.
We all know that when things are not under the control of our hands, decisions cannot be made and results cannot be obtained in our favor. However, many among us still continue to blame one another. This trend has been with us for a long time and if this continues in the current pace, it is likely that we might deviate from opting for ‘a culture of appreciation.’ Some of the recent chronological events swinging in as ‘issues for debate’ in the online sites and the direction – by virtue of self realization; our society is heading to, perhaps deserve some timely caution.
From the time of being evicted from our nation to being a refugee for almost two decades: further down to the resettlement process, we all have swum in the soup of constant discourses. The meaning and content of those discourses have given a flavor to our lives—be it sweet or bitter, better or worse, fruitful or fruitless. Seemingly noticeable, we have always found something to complain rather than being complacent. If we stay at home, we complain that there is nothing interesting to do, when we travel we complain about the lumpy beds of the hotel and crowded airports, when we go to work we complain about having too much to do, when we read someone’s creative thoughts we try to find some loop holes to make a complain, and you name it. We seem to have lost the sense of gratitude – or rather never cultivated one. Criticism is a reprehension and constructive feedback with an alternative is an appreciation. Both are needed but the later presides over the former by a big margin.
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