​How can we overcome the desire for appreciation from others?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
I be this why should I be this why why I be this this why I be why should this what should not happen is that appreciation should be our driving motive alone. Sometimes as we advance we find that we are alone in a project or we are with people who we are striving for high quality work and then at that time we may be primarily looking at faults so that we can remove those faults. So our desire should be to please Krishna and to please Vaishnavas.
And how do we know that they are pleased? They will appreciate some things. So in that sense it’s natural to expect appreciation. At the same time that appreciation alone should not be our driving motive.
It should be the desire to please. And if we depend too much on appreciation then we may just become disheartened just because we don’t get the appreciation. So meditating on our purpose why we are doing this particular activity that helps a lot in moving closer towards a more self-motivated practice of our services.
Self-motivated doesn’t mean selfishly motivated. Self-motivated means internally powered without depending on others. Along with that when others appreciate at that time you should see appreciation as indirect instruction.
That means this is the way I can do some service and this is the way like Krishna and Mahasaya have been gifted to be able to do some quality service. So let me do this well. So when we act in that way then that appreciation will actually enliven our heart.
It won’t bloat our ego. And we can occasionally ask also directly is what am I doing pleasing you or is there something else I need to do. But we shouldn’t just go around constantly fishing for compliments.
That may become I think make the consciousness down to a little too materialistic or ego driven level. But basically don’t worry too much about wanting appreciation. Focus primarily on doing service.
Even if you are doing it for the sake of appreciation at least you are doing service. And gradually that service will purify us. As you become purified then you will become more and more inspired by the desire to please Krishna, to please Krishna’s representatives irrespective of whether there is verbalized appreciation for that service or not.
Okay. You go.