E for Encourage

As I contemplated E words, several sprang to mind this week.
Exasperated – when people didn’t respond to me as quickly as I thought appropriate. 
Expectations – dashed again and again. 
Elevated – heart rate when things didn’t go as I expected. 
Ego – injured when my priority wasn’t acknowledged as another’s primary concern. 
Eager – to blame someone else for my lack of patience.

Enough. Stop my whining.

Engage. Step into my life. 

Energize. Start anew.

Making this reframe possible for me are those in my world who encourage me.  Charlie, most of all. Kate and Jess.  Many friends.  Even strangers.  I am truly blessed to be surrounded by love and encouragement. 

Every day, I have dozens of encounters, each with the potential for me to be the encourager.  Do I take advantage of those opportunities?  Do I build up?  Or tear down?


The word “courage” is from the Latin/Old French for “heart.” Encourage is to put your heart into someone who is downhearted until he or she is lifted up. The beauty of this arrangement is that both parties are nourished in the process.  It’s a true win-win situation.  Encouragement can be as simple as a smile, a nod, a gentle pat on the shoulder.  It can be just one word, a pep talk on the fly, a quick telephone chat, a greeting card, a letter.



To encourage myself to be a better encourager to others, I did a spot check to see how I encourage myself. (That’s a sentence full of encouragement.) Do my refrigerator and cupboard encourage healthy snacking and balanced meals?  Does my office chair encourage good posture?  Does my bed encourage sound rest?  My schedule encourage the lifestyle I want – with time for leisure or study or family or romance or whatever I value?  My shoes encourage solid support for my hardworking feet?  There’s room for improvement, but I’m not doing bad.

Now that’s encouraging!