Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I have seen encouragement change the lives of people. Here I relate one episode of such.

This post is a bit different from the rest. Well, that is if you can find a pattern in the rest of my posts. I’ve read a lot of blogging experts that say you should find a narrow niche and write about that most of the time. I guess I don’t have a narrow niche or haven’t found it yet.

Let’s start with a statement that has a few problems, but it is just a start:

Encouragement can change a person’s life – and the lives of other people as well.

Here is why I write the above. A relative of mine – a grown man, actually in his middle age – was recently “tossed out” by close family members who were housing him. The background is too lengthy to write at this time.

Some distant relatives took him in – for three months. They fed him, housed him, helped him do his laundry, got him to stop drinking, got him to stop smoking, had him exercise (mild at first) every day. At the end of the three months, he returned to him close family.

About the second day back with his close family, a family memory confronted him with curt words. My encouraged relative did not reply in that manner. Instead, he spoke about living as gentle human beings. The situation in that home changed. Encouragement spread.

Items involved in encouragement:

Kind words – For three months, people spoke kindly to my relative.

Sleep – My relative slept at least eight hours a night. He had not done so in many years.

Food – My relative ate three meals a day at the same three times each day. Again, he had not done so in years.

Peace – People did not argue or exchange angry words or glances.

Exercise – My relative walked outdoors each day. He eventually was walking two hours outdoor every day.

Common enemy – A mention this item cautiously. Everyone had a common enemy, something they could all agree to avoid. The common enemy was being negative.

Resources: This wasn’t free. The distant relatives who encouraged my discouraged relative needed some resources. They included:

Spare bedroom – My relative needed a place to sleep.

Spare food – Three meals a day.

Trust – They had to trust my discouraged relative. After all, he had the run of their home.

My relative’s life has changed – for now at least as we each live one day at a time. The lives of those around him have been affected as well. This is the power of encouragement. I believe that we all possess the power of encouragement. The funny thing about encouragement, the more we give away the more we seem to have.