Encouragement

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Are You an Encourager?
by Dan Langerock

The story is told of a man watching a building being torn down. He watched as the workers destroyed what once had been a beautiful edifice. He finally asked the foreman, "Do you hire the same laborers to tear down a building as you do to build one?" He said, "Indeed not! It takes skilled workers to build while just anyone can tear down a building." This comment made me think about what I do the most in my life. Am I known more for the building of encouragement or the devastation of tearing down?

When we feel depressed, it is easy to transfer that feeling. We want others to feel just as miserable as we are. Perhaps it makes us feel bad when people around us are feeling good? The problem is, we often step on people's creativity and put a damper on what they are trying to do, by being in this frame of mind. William Yeats said,

"I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."

Think about the words that you say. Do they uplift or drag down the person you are talking to? Are the words you speak what you would want to hear if you were in their shoes? Count the cost of your words on the emotions and ambitions of those you converse with. Hurts can take years to resolve, so think about the impact of what comes out of your mouth. Otherwise, the next dream that gets trampled may be yours.

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