Encouragement is a gift that everyone can give. It soothes the soul, lifts up the spirit, and builds confidence to accomplish great things. Words of encouragement and random acts of kindness are actionable ways to show appreciation. Too often, we miss great opportunities to pour a few kind words into someone’s life.

I think that a powerful way to utilize encouragement is when failure has occurred in someone’s life. For me when I fail, I rarely look at the positive things that happened on the way to that failure. When I am encouraged to “look at the bright side” of things, I begin to realize that I really didn’t fail, I am just learning and that I did good along the way. I am blessed that someone took that time to encourage me.

Encouragement only takes a moment

How many times a day to do you see someone doing something kind or thoughtful. I would bet it is all the time. The great thing about encouragement, is it builds on acts of kindness and reminds us about the good things when times are tough. Here are some ways to integrate encouragement in your day to day activities:

1. Be on the lookout for awesome things that people are doing in their day to day routines. Most people are not trying to just go through the motions, but rather are trying to accomplish something. Take notice, recognize, and let them know how great their effort is.
2. Become a fan. Cheer when they succeed, lift them up when the results are not what they hoped for. I am my wife’s biggest fan (self-proclaimed). I work to encourage step by step, minute by minute through the race which is her life.
3. Don’t just encourage people you know. Tell the young man how special you feel when they open the door for you. Let people know how much you appreciated their attitude when dealing with someone who should have better manners.

Encouragement is very contagious. Start today to encourage someone you know. What happens next may surprise you.   I hope you are encouraged by this post.