Savoring the people in your life helps you to:

• Promote healthy attachment
• Enhance life quality for people engaging in relationships
• Cultivates healthy connective functioning
• Helps others adjust to their role in your life
• Helps us adapt to the stressors that come from being in relation with others (as caregivers, as breadwinners, as mentors, as mentees, etc.)
• Nurture family ties
• Reduces conflict
• Increases job performance
• Improves mental and physical health
• Promotes engagement and learning
• Reduces anxiety in relationships

Reactive vs. Proactive Savoring of People

• Reactive: happens naturally and spontaneously
  • Merely requires awareness of an ongoing positive experience one has not intentionally created, but can savor
  • Fosters the joy of surprise
  • Only reminisce when external circumstances bring positive memories to mind
• Proactive: deliberate and grows from seeking out positive experiences to savor
  • Effortful allocation of time and energy to create a positive experience “from scratch” with others
  • Fosters the joy of anticipation of a person’s presence
  • Reminiscing serves to keep one’s storehouse of pleasant memories fresh and accessible
  • Anticipation can heighten the joy of positive events with others both before and during their occurrence

Ways to appreciate others:

• Be present
• Say thank you
• Listen empathetically
• Be specific in your praise
• Make small sacrifices
• Be available
• Compliment them…often
• Pay it forward
• Be loyal to them
• Engage in activities THEY enjoy
• Take something off their plate, permanently 
• Write the words down
• Know their love language
• Brag about them in public, admonish them in private
• Reciprocate