It’s now ten weeks since our year in Argentina was cut short and we returned to Australia. And so much has happened in these ten weeks that it feels like a lifetime ago.

Looking back, there is one cultural reflection that I’d like to share.

Argentinians love a round of applause. When a plane lands everyone claps. At the end of every Pilates class we give the teacher a round of applause.

And my favourite was sitting on the beach watching the sun set. Even in the middle of summer, this turns out to be the busiest time of the day on the beach. Everyone brings out their beach chairs and their thermos of tea and sits to watch the sun going down. At the exact moment when the sun disappears everyone claps and then packs up and heads home for dinner.

I think it’s really nice (and smart) to have a leaning towards appreciation and gratitude. Evolution has wired us to notice what’s wrong, what’s missing, what’s dangerous, rather than what’s going well. If you were in the savanna 200,000 years ago paranoia would probably serve you much better than gratitude.

Now, not so much.

But because it’s not automatic, and for most of us it’s not cultural, we may need to be a bit deliberate about building an appreciation habit.