Often times in life I feel as though many people don't ever have anything nice to say. I sit next to a girl in one of my classes and she really never has said anything that would be considered encouraging about another person. Usually it's putting someone else down. When talking about people she knows she has positive things to say but generally negativity comes out of her mouth. I find at times I can be the same way. There are times that I just want to focus on others problems or say mean things because in the end it doesn't hurt me to say them. But if someone found out that I said something negative about them it would probably hurt their feelings.
I think as a society and as Christians, and as individuals we can do, I can do so much better. Since the start of the year I try to say something positive or encouraging to anyone that helps me. Mostly people who make my food or ring me up at the store. After working in sales I know how unappreciative people can be, so I try my best to at least say thank you if not more.
I know I wrote about this earlier in this blog about how we need to love more as a society but even then we need to watch what we say. In James it talks about how our mouth can have a tremendous effect on others. And it's true. What our mouth says, says a lot about us. People can tell if we are positive or negative by just listening to what we say. People will decide if they want to be close to us or if they want to ignore us by what we say. We have to watch ourselves.
On thing that I have been totally blessed with is people who always have positive things to say. I have a lot of guy friends that I'm close with and never once have they had anything truly mean to say about me. Can they be harsh? Yes, of course, they are boys and they don't always realize that they are talking to a girl. But when all is said and done, those boys make sure I know what's what and that I'm important. They let me know that I'm beautiful. That I'm wanted. That I'm a good friend. They tell me all these things because they know they should and they want to say them.
And I have awesome parents that let me know I'm doing good in my life. They are encouraging and supportive to what I want to do in life and the decisions I am making in my life. I couldn't thank my mom enough for being an awesome mom who shows her appreciation to me on a daily basis.
But often times, the people around us don't have such people in their lives to give them positive encouraging words. I had a deep conversation with someone close to me a few weeks ago and I found out that they never really had any sort of encouraging words said to them. They had positive things said to them before but it wasn't consistent. It wasn't an all the time thing. They didn't know they were appreciated. They didn't know that they were cared for, they didn't know how much I cared for them. Their self worth was never really shown to this individual. It broke my heart, it really did. Someone this close to me and they never knew worth or value in their life. And this is someone in the church.
It was a slap in the face that I needed to be more encouraging in my words. I needed to make it apparent my appreciation for others and let them know verbally that I cared for them instead of just assuming that they knew my appreciation for them.
Working at the church I have found out that sometimes people just take it for granted what church employees do. They work their butts off and mostly it goes unnoticed. The same goes for volunteers who give up their time. People don't see the effort others make or know how much we put into planning lessons or how we have learned that we need to teach the kids in individual ways. I had a work meeting last week (8 women all in one room) and my boss started to tell us how much she really appreciated us. Then she started to cry. Which of course made us all cry (again 8 women all in one room). And it was uplifting to hear how much my boss and her assistant really do appreciate the work we do. Even if the parents don't always show it, my boss sees the hard work we put in to teach the kids about God. It was positive encouraging words that we all needed to hear.
So I think you can guess the importance or words. Especially encouraging words. And that I shouldn't ramble on anymore. So my challenge to all of you who read this post is to go out and say at least one positive thing to everyone that you come into contact with in one day. Just try it one day. If someone makes you food, thank them. If your kids do something good, tell them. If your neighbor lets their dog pee on your lawn, tell them that you would prefer them not to let their dog do that and that you love their front lawn. Tell everyone one thing positive. Doesn't have to be a big thing, but something positive goes a long way!
I'm telling you, it will make an impact. You may not see the difference but it does make an impact. (Trust me, people who are around my age, if someone older rings you up at a store and you say "Thank you ma'am/sir" you will probably see complete and utter shock on their face because someone actually had good manners."
