Howtoencourage

Friday, April 25, 2008

Why Encouragement?

Our world needs encouragement…a world ravaged by depression and death, fear and frenetic activity, sorrow and strife. At times the darkness threatens to overwhelm us.

How do we learn to live with courage to face our problems, with energy and purpose instead of listlessness, boredom and discouragement? How do we combat the negative messages this out-of-control culture gives us every day?

I believe the answer lies in the effort of encouragement. In fact, I am passionate about encouragement because it has worked for me and I have witnessed its power in countless others in my realm of relationships. But it does take effort, enthusiasm and energy to learn to encourage another.

Just the other evening, I saw a friend lift up her head, in spite of difficult circumstances because someone said simple words ‘you have shown amazing courage in the midst of your pain.’ They noticed her, spoke significant words that understood what she was going through and gave support by their acknowledgement.

Encouragement by definition means to give hope, support, assistance, help; that in spite of troubles one never gives up, cheering one on in the form of spectators at a race. Everybody needs an ‘atta boy, atta girl,’ our own personal ‘wind beneath our wings’ person, a cheerleader to save us.

Stories abound with heroic tales of that special friend, parent or teacher that encouraged a new endeavor or passed on the will to persevere. You can be that person to your family, friends and community. Your words and actions can bring healing to someone in your world.

Do you know the right words to say to bring hope and encouragement to your friend or family member today?

I believe if we could learn to say encouraging words to each other, we could change the world one person at a time.

Discover the simple secrets of encouragement at
How to encourage

1 comment:

Donna J. Shepherd said...

Lovely blog. I enjoyed reading several of the posts. Bless you, Donna