No matter how you slice it, encouragement means more than you know. There are tons of success stories that were inspired by someone encouraging someone with simple words like this, “You have what it takes.”
I remember reading an article in Southwest Airline’s Spirit Magazine about Baltimore Ravens Offensive Tackle Michael Oher that brought truth and reality to this very thing. Michael is the famous NFL player whose life inspired one of my favorite movies The Blind Side.
Michael mentioned how he remembered his 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Logan, saying, “Can’t never could and ain’t never would.” He also said he remembered, later on in his schooling, times when he thought about giving up, Miss Sue would say, “You can do it!” Those simple words were empowering and still impact him today.
For as long as I can remember, I have remembered my mom telling me, “Son, you can do absolutely anything.” Each and every step of my life that I had questions, whether it be college, grad school, starting businesses, big-time leadership roles, being the youngest prison warden in the country…When I had questions and doubts, my mom never had doubts. “Son, you can do absolutely anything.”
Throughout the years, I’ve had mentors that have said some version of the same thing. This encouragement coupled with a genuine belief that God is saying, “Son, you can do anything” has made a believer out of me.
As a result, I always try to be a genuine believer in most everyone that I get to work closely with. One of the pastors that I used to work with told me that I was “Barnabas” to him and that attribute of encouragement saved his career and ministry calling.
It’s pretty amazing how this simple cycle works – I believe in others, and in return, they believe in themselves. I have been accused of believing in people too much, and I’ll take that criticism any day. Fortunately, I worship a God that believes in His children too much.
Encourage someone today…It Means More than You Know.
Do you make it a habit to encourage others? Do you know someone that does a great job of encouraging? Share your thoughts and experiences.
