I have a friend who works incredibly hard and is extremely dedicated. But she seldom gets credit for the work she does. I do try to tell her that she makes a difference, but she thinks I say so only to make her feel better. I think she is taken a bit for granted by far too many of her friends (and she has lots of friends – I stopped counting after 88). And somewhere that hurts her.
It hurts me too. And not just because she is a friend. But because it is so unfair.
But that might be able to change. I was walking back with one of my colleagues and suddenly – right out of the blue – she started praising this friend of mine. She said she was wonderful and creative and wasn’t it a shame that she almost never got the credit she deserved? She kept talking like this for a while.
And then she stopped and looked at me. And asked: “Why on earth are you smiling like that?”
I thought about trying to explain. About just how good it felt to hear someone you like being praised. Especially someone who deserved praise but seldom got it. But it was too difficult, so I just nodded and said: “Thanks,” and waved her goodbye. She must have thought I was crazy. So must have lots of people in the Metro – they saw someone smiling for no apparent reason.
You see, I was happy. Happier than I had been for a while.
All thanks to a friend who works incredibly hard.
Who says hard work doesn’t pay?
No comments:
Post a Comment