1. I share words of praise. I compliment what someone is doing or what they have done or where they are going. I focus on a positive element and highlight that positive.
2. I share an attitude of praise. I give a hug or a pat on the back or sometimes just a smile – a physical attitude to let the person I am seeking to encourage know that I appreciate the efforts being made.
3. I have a heart of thanksgiving. I invest my energies into thinking about the ways I am grateful for having that person in my life in that moment, in the past, or with expectation towards the future.
4. I developed a habit of unspoken prayer. I take time out to pray for those that I want to encourage because I know that lifting someone up in prayer can be the most powerful encouragement possible even when they don’t know the prayers are happening.
5. I created a mindset of being relentlessly giving – because it takes me out of a place of expectation into a focus of encouragement.
Sharing encouragement needs to be tempered with a little discernment or we would all have wallpapered tortoises wandering around. Sharing works best when I invest in learning specific needs, but there are also some general practices that make sharing encouragement easier.
#GrowingHOPE understands a life INcouraged can give flight to impossible dreams – but I have to invest in encouragement to grow up that life.
First – I have to understand encouragement – because it is more than just cheerleading from the sideline (although it can include that).
Second – I have to become encouraged in my own journey – because I will always struggle to be an encouragement when I am haunted by discouragement myself.
Third – I have to develop a habit of sharing encouragement because it will never have a chance to work if it is never given away.
Fourth – I have to learn how to recognize discouragement in myself and in those around me. Sometimes the encouragement comes from that recognition.
Fifth – I have to utilize the tools for dispelling discouragement because there are ways I can help grow it away.
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