Encouragement - Yeah, it's That Important!

Today I was reminded again about just how wonderful the gift of encouragement is to our own well-being.  One almost stranger, one close friend, and one new friend all spoke words of encouragement into my life today and I cannot tell you how much of a boost that was!  Yet, each one spoke these words in the midst of their own trials and it makes what they said even that much more precious. 

Encouragement is important in all areas of life.  Without it, the soul withers, doesn't it?  Think about the children who have parents who never praise and always criticize.  Most end up being shadows of who they could have been if only they'd been raised with love and the proper kind of correction.  It's the same with sports, music, dance, cooking, any activity really.  Children thrive with coaches and teachers who encourage and don't excel with coaches who belittle.  It's not any different for adults either.  If you have a boss who says thank you or notices your hard work, it goes a long way in helping them thrive to be even better employees.  But when you have a boss who does nothing but point out what you need to improve on, people will never gain the confidence they need to achieve higher work goals and often they look for work elsewhere or in an entirely different field.  We've been built with the need to be noticed and encouraged. And no, I'm not talking about the feel-good, generic, positive statement/mantra crap that's so popular right now.  I'm talking about taking two seconds to genuinely notice a person's strengths and letting them know you noticed.  Kids and adults both can tell the difference - they know when it's genuine vs when it's something you're supposed to say. 


To be in isolation is to feel somewhat invisible.  It's hard because you don't want to cry and whine all the time about how hard things are but at the same time, you almost need to have people notice how difficult this must be for you.  Especially, when it involves any length of time.  When mono first started all of this, I accepted early on that it could be 1-2 months of illness before feeling better.  Because I had known so many people who had previously had mono, I wasn't worried or in need of much comfort.  But that all changed when things went from bad to worse and the doctors couldn't figure out why. 

I've had some great friends and family who have been by me every step of the way through this.  I'm so grateful for their long-suffering and loving me no matter how great of a friend I could be in return.  To have encouragement from them is a precious gem - no matter what form it comes in:  prayers, kind words, acts of kindness...  They are all so helpful when facing a situation that is harder than you thought you could endure. 

When things are hard, not the I had a bad day at work hard but hard as in you find yourself wondering if you'll survive this phase of life - any gem of encouragement is like a ray of sunshine to help guide you along!  I know this might sound dramatic if you've never been there but trust me, it's really true.  Today made my heart sing because it felt so good to be noticed, and to be noticed because of what God's doing in my life is even better because He's the only reason I do anything worth noticing anyway.  Speak encouragement into the lives around you because you never know when it could be the very thing that someone had just prayed for and needed so badly.