A Gift of Value

We all receive gifts and we all give gifts. Most times when we think about a gift, we think of something of material value; something tangible we can hold in our hands, something that we paid money for. And the concept of re-gifting is gaining popularity. All of these types of presents are nice, and we all like to receive them, yet there are other gifts that are more valuable and money can never buy them.

What types of gifts are these, you ask?

Well what about the gift of encouragement. Giving someone encouraging words can sometimes mean more than a material gift. Those encouraging words can be just the influence the person may have needed to continue. And by receiving encouragement, they may go on to discover bigger things than they are currently working on. We don?t realize the impact of encouraging words. And we may not think of them as gifts.

Very few people develop to their full potential. And, you will find an encouraging person often supports those who do grow. A lot of times we are our own worse enemy because we allow self-doubt to enter the picture. But when someone comes along and gives us encouragement, it helps erase the self-doubt that we may have. As Ovid once said, "The spirited horse, which will try to win the race of its own accord, will run even faster if encouraged."

When I first had the idea to write a book, I wrote a few pages and then stopped and thought that this wasn?t any good. No one will want to buy this. I was defeating myself before I even started. The voice in my head reminded me what the famous artist, Vincent Van Gogh once said, "If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." I showed the few pages that I had written to Byron, and he thought they were great. He encouraged me by saying, ?write some more, this is good?. All of a sudden my self-doubt was gone and I thought, wow, if he thought it has potential then I should also. So I continued to write, and Byron continued to support and encourage me by editing the pages and giving me words of encouragement. If it were not for him, the book would never have been finished let alone published.

There are many other times where I have completed or reached a goal because of encouragement from others. I am sure they have no idea how much their belief in me had an impact on the work I was doing. But their words of encouragement truly helped me I achieve the goal, and squished that self-doubt talk that was in my head.

So the next time you are thinking of a gift, remember the gift of encouragement. Use it every day; do not wait for special occasions to share these words. In summary, I leave you with the words of Sidney Madwed, ?If everyone received the encouragement they need to grow, the genius in most everyone would blossom and the world would produce abundance beyond our wildest dreams.?