I said a Kind Word One Day...
I said a kind word
One day
And I saw the light
That it brought,
The smile on his face,
The joy in his eyes.
I said a kind word
One day
And it seemed
To change a life,
Give life.
I tend to be a joker, a
teaser. I love to laugh and I love to make others laugh, I can be really sarcastic
and sassy. But when it comes to speaking affirmation, speaking an encouraging
word, giving a compliment or saying a kind word to a friend, somehow the words
always get stuck in my throat and a joke comes out instead. Or sometimes I can
manage a nice word, but then just so the person knows I am not really that
nice, I cover it up with a joke or a sassy comment.
But a few weeks ago I
gave a genuine encouraging compliment to a friend and was surprised by how much
joy that brought my friend not to mention how much joy it brought to myself to
see his joy. When I joke with my friends, I don’t really seem to be changing a
life, but when I gave that one genuine compliment, I felt that I was really
making a difference, really bringing joy to another; not just temporary laughter,
but genuine joy.
I think I tend to hide
behind a mask of laughter and joking. It’s my own way of preventing people from
seeing my genuine heart underneath. And that may not make sense to most people,
but somehow I use sarcasm and laughter as a mask. But maybe being really
genuine and sincere and encouraging with a friend is more rewarding than all of
my jokes.
Of course, I have made all kinds of resolutions in the past for putting
away all joking and only speaking true and kind things, but you can ask my
friends how that resolution went because it was an utter fail by the very next
day. I suppose I may always enjoy teasing and joking with my friends and that
doesn’t have to a bad thing (although it can be), but mostly what I want to get
better at is actually speaking affirmation to others. I would love to be less
sarcastic and sassy, but despite all of that I really want to be better at
affirming others because it really can make a difference, it really does change
lives, and it really isn’t as scary as it seems. ;)
You often have good encouraging words to speak. I guess sarcasm and sassy is our default and often not helpful . Thanks for the reminder. I need to be more encouraging myself. Just like any habit we want to form, it takes daily practice.
ReplyDeleteA word aptly spoken
is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
Prov 25:11
Yeah, I know what you mean! Sometimes I want to say a compliment to someone but it seems hard. Or I want to tell them how meaningful they are to me but it seems awkward or I think they'll take it wrong, etc. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this, Hannah! I am always love how genuine and encouraging your blog is, and this post was something I needed to be reminded of
ReplyDelete