We, as humanity, don’t help each other nearly enough. Some people do; these superheroes are exempt. I don’t. I don’t even offer enough encouragement. Encouragement is free, but I hold on to it because of my own perspective.

I have an abundance of courage. No amount of encouraging (or discouraging) comments could sway me from my current path. I’m not sure if this makes me stubborn or resilient. Maybe both. I certainly enjoy encouraging remarks, I have a wishlist and secretly hope to get surprised by a purchase from it. I don’t expect it, though. This not happening, or happening, doesn’t change my life.

What does change my life is giving encouragement. I feel better when I do and I feel worse when I don’t. I’m aware of it, though! I still don’t.

I know I don’t help people out as much as I should. I have some friends who take amazing photos, worked hard on an ebook and have it priced way too cheap. Did I buy it? Nope.

I shared it with a lot of people. I made excuses, the primary one was PayPal and I dislike PayPal. This is an excuse and not a very good one. They’re my friends and I’m making excuses instead of encouraging them on their endeavors.

Encouragement is not for their benefit. It’s for me, the giver. It feels very good to give encouragement but I feel silly while doing it. Every time I send people an encouraging message about how impressed or excited I am to see them going for their dreams, I feel absurd. It is absurd to feel absurd! But I do, so I keep my mouth shut.

When someone reaches out to me and says, “You’ve inspired me” or “I hope you succeed!” I enjoy it. When I think of reaching out or offering encouragement, I feel silly. I think, “What if they don’t want to hear about it?” Or perhaps, “Will they think I’m patronizing?”

This is a huge block. Why do I think this way? What’s my take away? How can I be better?

Don’t feel silly. Don’t feel absurd. The smallest words can feel good, and maybe, just maybe, in encouraging others I’ll make my day a little brighter.