Leadership Thought: Please Carry This in Your Briefcase or Backpack.

Dear Friends

A little boy said to his dad, “Let’s play darts.” The dad said “Fine, but how do you play?” The little boy replied,  “I will throw the darts, and you say wonderful.” 

I love that little story for it’s a good reminder that all of us, young or old, love and need encouragement. It has been said that encouragement is oxygen to the soul, and it’s hard to live very long without it.

Encouragement after failure can be one of the most important gifts you can ever give someone. I believe that a word of encouragement after failure is worth more than an hour of praise following triumph.

Someone wrote this challenge. Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody. I want to be that kind of ‘somebody’ and I know you do.

I want to be around the kind of people who lift me up and provide hope for me when I am down, discouraged and defeated. I want to hang with the kind of people who are dealers of hope.

Today I want to challenge you to be on the lookout for someone who needs encouragement. Maybe it will take only a minute or two- a phone call, an e-mail, a handwritten letter, or better yet a personal visit (with mask of course). I assure you that such an act will result in a twofold blessing, as encouragement always blesses both the giver and receiver. 

Paul exhorts us in 1 Corinthians 13:11 to be encouragers. "Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."

Do you want love and peace to dwell with you throughout your day today? If you do, be a lookout detector, and once you discover the source of need shower them with encouragement.

You will be glad you did.

Have a triumphant Thursday.

Tom 

P.S. Encouragement is a wonderful word to carry in your vocabulary briefcase, or backpack of course, if you are a millennial, as a reminder that today you can make a significant difference in another person’s life.