Have you ever had a “Word” you thought you were supposed to speak into someone’s life and you didn’t because of excuses you were making in your mind? This has happened to me twice -both at funerals- where I felt the leading to say something but I didn’t. The first time was at the funeral for the father of Bob Hess in Glen Ellyn, IL. over 20 years ago. I was going to say something like: “I didn’t know Bob’s dad, but I could tell the kind of man he was because of the traits I see in his son Bob Hess.” The second time was last Saturday at the funeral for Bill Callen, where I was should have stood up and said “It’s been said that 99% of the people in the world don’t think they can achieve greatness, so they aim for mediocrity; and just to let you know: Bill is not in that 99%. Rather he is in the 1% of the top 1%, as he has impacted generations with the all the music bands he formed and led over his life.” But because of battles in my mind, I just sat there and didn’t say anything. And just like remembering the events at the funeral for Bob’s Dad, I’m sure I’m going to remember not saying anything at Bill’s funeral for years to come. Going forward, I’m going to use these past events to as a reminder that there are always words of encouragement that I can speak into the lives of others as I go about my Hiking, Personal, and Work life.
In hiking, there are opportunities to speak words of encouragement every time we cross paths with someone. Be it; a group of Fort Carson soldiers running through Red Rocks Open Space, where I can stop to cheer them on as a group; to the person struggling on the incline, where they need a personal word of support or drink/snack to help them on their way. I don’t think anyone has ever said, “Thanks but I don’t need your encouraging words.” We are all driven to new heights or helped across the finish line by the words of life, we can speak into others on the trail.
In our personal life, like the words our parents hammered in our head “If you can’t say something nice to a person, don’t say anything at all.” These words are as true today, as they have ever been. Our words need to be giving life to others. And unfortunately, I tend to miss saying these words to those closest to us, because the closer we are to people, the more faults we tend to see. But it’s those closest to us, who need the supporting words the most. And it extends outward from our inner circle. To our neighbors, friends, relatives, and people we see during our day-to-day business transactions. Everyone appreciates a “Thank You for doing ___, You really did a great job on _____, or words of encouragement during a difficult time.”
At work, words of encouragement can breathe life into a difficult day or a struggling project. It’s easy to start doubting our capabilities and skills when things aren’t going right. Having co-workers who are encouraging can often make the difference between the failure and success of a project. And it’s not just our co-workers; support staff and our upper management chain need words of encouragement just as much as anyone.
We need to remember that our words spoken to others need to come not from our head, but from our HEART. Our body language, eye contact, tone of voice, inflection, etc. all speak volumes on how others will hear what we are saying to them and the genuineness of the words spoken. Take time to assess what encouraging words you may have for those you will be interacting with during a given activity/event. Ask yourself “who will you be seeing today and what can I say that will breathe new life into them and lift their spirit?”
Al Andersen 