Be Encouraged

*40 minutes walking/running in gorgeous sunshine & 1 hour of salsa!

ENCOURAGE = to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope

(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encourager)

When was the last time you spoke a kind word to someone? When was the last time that someone spoke a kind word to you and it warmed your spirit? 

Word power is awesome and underestimated by many.  We grow up hearing that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  That is nonsense.  Words can hurt, they can sting to the core and they can cause little boys and girls to never reach their dreams, if they don’t overcome them.  All of us can remember at point in our lives when someone said something profoundly positive or negative because it had an impact in our lives.

As we mature, we should grow to understand that we will always either be in either one of two roles: the giver and the receiver of words.  As ‘givers’, we are in control of what we will do with the words we speak to other people.  We can choose to uplift, inspire and encourage.  Or we can choose to criticize, insult and put down others around us.  There is a place for criticism; however, it should be reserved for constructive comments with purpose – not just because you have something negative to say. 

As ‘receivers’ we can choose to accept or reject the words that are spoken to us and into our lives.  We have to have enough confidence within ourselves to know who we are and what applies to our lives.  If someone speaks garbage to us, then we need to throw those words out with the trash and speak life in the place of the death they attempted to give to us.  If they speak life to use, then we should treasure them as affirmations of who we are, and we should use the power behind those words to fulfill our purpose.

The next time you have an opportunity to speak into someone’s life, be an encourager.  Be the one that the person thinks of fondly when they have taken the next step in their life because you believed in them.  Be an inspiration to someone else.  Speak LIFE!