Do not turn someone else’s appreciation into a promise never to disappoint them.

Being appreciated can turn into an obligation you never agreed to. Somebody calls you the reliable one, the person who never lets them down, and you quietly resolve to keep that true forever, which means never being tired, wrong or unavailable. Their gratitude described what happened rather than contracting for the future. Carrying it as a promise makes a good thing heavy.

Receive the next piece of appreciation as a description of the past. Let yourself disappoint somebody in a small, ordinary way this week and watch the regard survive it.