Have you seen the TV show “Undercover Boss?” It’s a pretty good show. The premise is to have the owner or CEO of a major company covertly start working at their own company. In the process they see how their company is really run and they meet the little people who work for them.
A few weeks ago one of the owners of the Chicago Cubs was on the show. At the end of the show they reveal who they really are to the employees they work with. I couldn’t help but notice how malnourished the employees were. They weren’t lacking food. They were lacking positive words. As the boss was praising the employees for their hard work it was evident that they hadn’t heard positive words in a really long time. They ate up his words like a fat kid on the day before fat camp.
I can’t prove this theory, but I feel like most people are starving for positive words. I once heard a pastor say “if you ever think something good say it.” For some reason we think twice about saying positive words and yet we don’t think twice to tear someone down. There is someone in your life and you are the only one who can feed them positive words. Like a newborn baby they can’t feed themselves. It’s easy to forget to give positive words to co-workers, bosses, neighbors, friends, and especially family. The question is, who do you need to feed?
Feeding positive words to some folks is easier than with others. It is so easy and natural for me to shower my daughter with praise and positivity. For others, even folks that I care about, it seems so foreign a concept. It just seems to be awkward for me. I don't know why. Got to keep working at it.
i think there has to be a realignment because I don't think positive words pass through our minds a lot…I'm not saying they don't at all…but that there has to be a paradigm shift to "outdo" each other in encouragement…I know the Apostle Paul tells to do this…but as believers, this should also apply to complete strangers, enemy's, and most of all those closest to us…i think a lot of times, we can say nice things to acquaintances and simply assume our closest people "just know"
I had to text my sister and feed her positive words before I could even finish your whole blog!!! Thanks for the reminder… ~Tammie Saunders
Daniel, I think you do a great job encouraging me. You might be better at it then you think. You've sent me multiple facebook messages after a talk, and leave great comments on the blog.
Very thought provoking. I am going to take your words to heart. I think we all could use some building up. It never fails to make someone's day if you approach them with kindness and positive words – even the surly cashiers at stores. We have no idea what is going on in their lives. Good post, Rob.