CLEAR

Encourage Today

Posted on: January 26, 2010 by Diane

from Diane’s desk…

Encourage each other daily, as long as it is called Today.  ~Hebrews 3.12

Encourage. Daily. That’s a tall order for so many of us.

It’s hard because when we encourage someone else, we actually have to think about someone other than yourself. Their interests, not yours. Their success, not yours. Their joys, talents, success. Not your own.

A few years ago, I was transferred to another position at my company. It was a position that I wouldn’t have actually chosen for myself. I felt way over my head, off my game. A couple of months into this “adventure”, a colleague came into my office, and sat down. Sensing my uncertainties, he said to me, ‘There is no one on the team that brings your expertise, your experience. Never doubt that you have something to offer, even if it sounds different than the ordinary.’

He didn’t have to do that. In fact, the way performance is rewarded at our company, if I blew it outta the park, it may very well affect his bottom line at bonus time. But that didn’t seem to matter to him. He had my interests at heart, not his own. My success, my confidence level. Not his own. What he said stayed with me for weeks, reminding me that ‘I was OK’ even when I felt a bit shaky.

That’s the great thing about encouragement. It doesn’t last a day. It’s like a seed. You sow it, and it comes back to nourish again - on another day, called Today.

Plant a seed of encouragement.  Do it Today.