Mulling about on encouragement came realization it’s mutually beneficial by nature.
When was the last time you encouraged someone and didn’t feel better as well?
Genuinely supporting another is a gift that cuts through appearances to the heart of the matter.
You find yourself seeing another for who they really are, and knowing what is possible for them.
This can’t be done by staying distant. Connections form, if only for a moment, and relationships deepen.
In helping another step more fully into their true selves, you step more fully into you too.
Encouragement doesn’t need to be grandiose or deliver the sagest advice.
Even the simplest acts can have the greatest impact.
And you don’t always get to know what a difference you made, making uplifting another a gift with no strings attached.
(But you still feel good because you connected at the level where words and evidence aren’t needed.)
Sharing hope and confidence lets another know they are not alone, someone has their back even in the toughest of times.
Imagine then what encouragement can accomplish when gifted to those already in a good place.
There is never a bad time to show another you see them.
How then can we gift encouragement beyond a pep talk?
Here is an initial list of 14 ways to support, embolden and uplift others:
Gifts of Encouragement
1. A hug – the kind that lasts long enough, and then some, to feel the tension release
2. Eye to eye connection – see them beyond the surface
3. Your smile – especially when they aren’t smiling
4. Listening – creating a safe space for another to talk things out, without jumping to solutions
5. Compliment for a stranger – let them know you see something special
6. Compliment for someone close – see what has been become normal and out of sight
7. Thanks for someone close – appreciate what they always do and taken for granted
8. Thanks for a stranger – appreciate what they do with no expectation of return
9. Seeing what they can’t – expand worlds where we’re blind to our own stuff
10. Patience – change doesn’t always happen overnight or in an instant, sometimes the same ground is travelled many times
12. A random act of kindness – there’s nothing like feeling good about yourself and humanity just because
12. Raising the bar – a fine balance of not allowing others to sell themselves short and not pushing too hard, too fast or too far
13. Presence– acknowledge one is worthy of full attention without competition
14. A shout out – tell the world they are need to be know because of who they are and what they do
How fantabulous if we could double this list between all of us?
What other ways do you support and uplift others?
Wednesdays are your personal invitation to look into the everyday, as well as the philosophical, in order to see where we’re already Living Bliss. As the Life we seek becomes part of our normal day-to-day, we can easily forget we’ve found ourselves as we work, live and play.
Blissed by cats, potatoes and clouds, Lorraine is a “curious left-brained creative big picture idea” type who never stops questioning or connecting the dots to make possibilities come true. She uses her knack for combining intuitive abilities and logic to help you hear the inner whispers “there’s something more” and re-ignite what Lights you up. Lorraine’s deepest wish is for you to be full of yourself in everything you do – a life truly lived in bliss. You can also join her weekly look into the everyday with Letters From Home.