We are busy people. We rush to work or university, pick up the kids from school, cook our meals (or go out to get food), are part of sporting clubs or are involved other extra activities. Not all of these are true for everyone, but you get the idea. We are busy. We’re so busy that we often forget the people around us.
Encouragement, however, happens when we stop ourselves and look around us. It happens when we become present in the moment. We stop and breathe in the air. We stop and we notice the shape of the clouds. We stop and around us we see people, individuals, going about their day.
This article is part of a series on encouragement – Unexpected: How to Be an Encourager
Encouragement, however, happens when we stop ourselves and look around us. It happens when we become present in the moment. – Click to Tweet this
It is only then that we can start valuing other people. When we’re busy, we’re too busy looking after ourselves or our families. We’re a bit in survival mode: flight or fight. Other people can potentially get in our way. They’re either competition, or the ones that slow us down.
I often catch myself with such an attitude. Probably, most of my time I show survival mode behavior like that. However, only when I stop and become aware of the moment, I feel like I don’t have to rush to get everything done, or get myself ahead of everyone else.
When I stop and become aware of the moment, I notice other people around me as well as their needs. I notice the lady struggling with fitting her groceries in her car. I notice the man limping as he walks his dog.
It doesn’t mean that I start helping them all with their needs. We can’t solve everyone’s problems by ourselves, and we don’t need to. However, we may become aware of those people that we can help.
When we become present in the moment we will notice and encounter people that we can help by providing a simple encouragement. Sometimes this encouragement is as simple as being a listening ear, or just give way to them in traffic, or write them a little nice note to brighten up their day. Sometimes someone needs just a hug, or an affirming pad on the back.
When we become present in the moment we will notice and encounter people that we can help by providing a simple encouragement. – Click to Tweet this
How will you be an encourager today? Will you stop yourself for a moment and just become aware of the people around you? How will you brighten up their day?
This article is part of a series on encouragement – Unexpected: How to Be an Encourager
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