Have You Experienced the Power of Encouragement?

Do you truly appreciate how impactful encouragement is?

Are you ready to become an Encourager?

Have you ever noticed how amazing it feels when you receive encouragement from someone, whether it be from somebody you know or a complete stranger?

How receiving encouragement can allow you to feel like the dark cloud hanging over you has lifted just a little, or the heaviness in your body has somehow lightened or the thick fog in your mind has started to clear.

When we receive encouragement it allows optimism to creep into our minds & into our hearts, even if only momentarily. And when we seize upon this optimism, & allow ourselves to accept & believe the encouragement, we can gain a completely different perspective on what our situation is.

Just allow yourself to remember a time in the past, maybe yesterday, last week or perhaps even months or years ago, when you received encouragement from someone. It may have been from a parent, friend, colleague or family member. It may have been encouragement for something you'd done, for something about yourself or for something you were trying to achieve. Just allow yourself to remember the experience & get a sense of how that made you feel, of how that impacted you in that moment & perhaps even in the days & weeks afterward.

It had a positive affect on you, didn't it!

When people remind us that we're stronger than we think & that the future does hold good things for us (whether that's our immediate or the longer term future) our perception of ourself, our options, choices & our potential can change dramatically. Because we've all survived difficult experiences, or even periods, throughout our lives & they've provided incredible resources, lessons & resilience.

It's part of the human story that we all struggle at times &, thankfully, most of us come out the other side. Sometimes we acquire battle scars along the way, but we do emerge stronger, wiser, more empathetic & even more capable of surviving future struggles. It's within the human psyche to get down on ourselves at times, to have difficult periods or chapters in our lives, where we spiral down into despair, self-judgement & criticism, doubt & fear. Where we feel discouraged & we lose all rational perspective.

But because we're such social creatures it's often the case that others can lift us up, reignite the light within us & inspire us to change much more effectively than we can achieve this on our own. Others can remind us, or perhaps even reveal to us for the first time, just how resilient we are & how capable we are of tapping back into our potential & capacity.

And if you just allow yourself to remember, once again, when you've been encouraged in the past. And if you just remember a time when you received verbal or physical encouragement. A time when someone told you that you'd done a great job, or gave you a hug of congratulations or even consolation, or told you that they had faith in you & what you could achieve. And just get a sense of what that encouragement felt like.

And as you enjoy that feeling, just allow yourself to remember a time when you received encouragement that also included ongoing support, guidance & collaboration. Just remember when someone wasn't only cheering you on from the sidelines, but was also walking right alongside you. And just get a sense of what that encouragement felt like. How valued, how seen, how worthy, how supported you felt.

When people see us, listen to us, when they ask the right questions, when they allow us to experience vulnerability without judgement & encourage us without judgement, when they provide space for us to envision & create a positive future, our perspective & our entire life can change dramatically. When they truly encourage us, everything changes.

Just recall how you felt when you were remembering being encouraged by somebody. And how did it feel when you were being encouraged from the sidelines? It felt really good didn't it! And how did it feel when you were being encouraged by somebody who stepped into your journey & walked beside you? That felt really amazing didn't it!

Receiving encouragement has an incredibly powerful impact on us, whether it's being given by someone from the sidelines or by the person who's actually stepped right in beside us. Having someone reach out to us, support us, help pick us up after a fall or to acknowledge our accomplishments has a profoundly positive effect on us immediately & over time.

And so, knowing how life-changing encouragement can be, knowing how it's impacted you & how your perspective on encouragement, has changed now ... 

I wonder when you will begin to encourage others more? 

I wonder when you will begin to feel the powerful experience of being the encourager as well as the encouraged?

I wonder when ...... 

Kim Harrison
mindmakeover.com.au