Someone deserve a gold star? Tell them, and everyone is happier
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Gretchen Rubin Guest blogger
| New York City
One of the most exquisite of pleasures, and one that鈥檚 too often overlooked, is the joy of giving聽well-deserved praise.
I鈥檓 a聽gold-star junkie myself, and maybe that鈥檚 why I love the opportunity to give good praise.
This past weekend, I was able to do this. In the聽New York Times Book Review I wrote about Kristin Cashore鈥檚 new book, "Bitterblue." As I鈥檝e often noted,聽I love children鈥檚 literature and young-adult literature, and Ms. Cashore is one of the best YA novelists writing today. I鈥檝e been a raving fan since I read the first two books in this trilogy,聽Graceling听补苍诲听贵颈谤别.
It gave me such聽tremendous happiness聽to聽sing the praises聽of someone whose work I admire so much, and to help other readers find their way to it. My concluding paragraph:
Some authors can tell a good story; some can write well. Cashore is one of the rare novelists who do both. Thrillingly imagined and beautifully executed, 鈥淏itterblue鈥� stands as a splendid contribution in a long literary tradition.
So true.
My sister and I often talk about the聽karma police. The karma police! When they鈥檙e on the job, nothing鈥檚 better than seeing their activity, but all too often, they appear to be off-duty.
Sometimes, we don鈥檛 get the praise we deserve; our hard work and good deeds aren鈥檛 rewarded; our efforts are fruitless. By giving merited praise, we can at least help make sure that others鈥� labors get recognized. And that鈥檚 a big source of happiness.
Years ago, on the day that a college friend was getting married in a quite elaborate all-weekend kind of way, we were all hanging out before the ceremony. An elegantly wrapped package arrived and was delivered to my friend鈥檚 mother. She thought perhaps it had been mis-addressed, but when she opened it, it was a beautiful nightgown, with a note from her best friend that said: 鈥淭o the mother of the bride, who has worked so hard to make this day perfect.鈥� A lovely gesture.
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