Don’t Keep Your Praise to Yourself: Spread It Like Wild Seeds in Fertile Soil!
It is so important to give others confidence and encouragement.
Yes, we might believe that most people are confident and happy, but many wear the mask of happiness and confidence while they are not.
As a tutor, I am constantly aware of this and how my word choices can impact a child or adolescent.
“Words cannot hurt you,” they say, but this is so untrue. How many ‘little’ comments / digs have been directed at you that make you feel hurt and dejected. How many times have these words penetrated deep into your day, week, month and life!
However, I have come to realize that a lack of words is just as soul-destroying as hurtful words. Sometimes, the silence that penetrates deeply is so much more stinging than the awful words echoed by those who have abandoned all self-reflection and common courtesy.
Words.
I will not hear that words cannot impact us. We should just ignore them. I will not hear that words cannot hurt YOU! ONLY sticks and stones can break your bones and so on. Not true.
Our selected word choices and tone , our facial expressions do indeed impact on others. As does our choice to remain silent.
Recently, my aunt was beautifully dressed up for a family gathering.
I do not know why the conversation went the way it did, but she proclaimed that her husband never says she looks nice.
I thought about it and realized that while he often admires other women, I have never heard him say anything positive about my aunt. I have heard her say that he looks nice and handsome on so many occasions. Why can he not bring himself to say the same to her.
She lacks confidence, and I know this would go much further than any other family member saying it. Okay, I understand that we should not ask for outside validation, that we should love ourselves first, but for some, this is very difficult to do.
Unfortunately, most people seem to find the negative in a situation, event, or person. They are quick to point out the negatives. Unfortunately, this is a human condition.
Or when you launch a new business, and your family does not even bother to ask how you are doing or how the business is doing. Instead they prefer to gossips about other things in life or talk about the so called celebrities of this unrealistic world we live in.
This demonstrates that silence can be just as harmful as saying something negative. It’s not as if someone can easily say, “Please look at that and tell me how wonderful it is.” We all need kind words, regardless of our status in life. Sometimes, kind words are worth a million pounds.
They are somethings you will remember.
You will remember how that person made you feel. It is difficult for many of us to think back to the goodness that people made us feel.
It is important to cherish those moments and hold them close to your heart, so that when you are not happy, you will remember that there was someone in your corner.
