I love hearing stories of people doing caring things for others to brighten their day. Some random acts are small – smiling and saying hello, holding the door, helping someone cross the street; and others are big – a $1000 tip, giving away a car, replacing a families clothes after a fire. Whatever the gesture, they’ve leave the person feeling special and loved.
“Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, ‘Make me feel important.’” – Mary Kay Ash
What if instead of being random, we became intentional about making people feel important?
What if instead of just being kind we focused on encouragement?
Encouragement > Kindness
Think about the last time someone really encouraged you (I hope you don’t have to think back too far). It may have been at a really low point in your life, or when you hit a tough assignment at work or school, or maybe it was just a really awesome person pointing out how incredible you are. Whatever the encouragement, remember how you felt in that moment and how it changed the course of your day (or life).
Pie in the sky comment coming…if each of takes the time to truly encourage someone today and every day going forward – we could begin to the change the world. Getting encouraged is awesome – being intentional about encouraging others and seeing the difference that it makes, might be even better.
Will you try this experiment with me?
For the next 3 days, commit to really encouraging one person – not just, “keep up the good work,” or “you can do it, champ.” Figure out where they need encouragement and give it – “I can see how hard you’re working to improve your marriage, you’re doing amazing, keep it up,” or “I know this promotion is important to you and the effort that you’re putting in the last few weeks is inspiring,” or “The attitude you bring to life is infectious. Keep smiling, you’re a making a huge difference in the world.” Then don’t let them shrug it off, and if they try, double down on that encouragement so they know you mean it.
If/when they come back to thank you for the encouragement…that’s your opportunity to encourage them to begin to do the same, and that’s how the chain reaction begins.
How about you?
I would love to hear about how you encouraged someone recently or how someone encouraged you and the effect that it had on you…please share it the comments below.
