You can't believe how meaningful and powerful encouragement is. As a cheerleading coach I try to impress upon my cheerleaders that this is really their main purpose. Last night at our annual school awards banquet, I explained (nervously) that cheerleaders are supposed to promote unity, a sense of identity, community and above all- support and encourage the teams.
Pretty exhausted from all of our typical end-of-the-year work, I kinda figured that my pontificating had pretty much just fallen on deaf ears. This morning, our student council advisor had left me a note: "Great job tonight. I love your school spirit! Thanks for all you do." That short little thing was just the thing I needed to rekindle my enthusiasm to keep on truckin' through these last couple of school weeks.
We can all do it. I admit that I need to practice it more and not just preach it. It doesn't have to take much- just a word or two, maybe a smile. Like Johnny Appleseed planting trees, you may never see the difference it makes. Or, you may just be surprised at the bountiful harvest you'll enjoy- positive feelings, positive attitudes. More people will like you and appreciate you and guess what- other people may just encourage you and build you up! Wouldn't that be great? What goes around, comes around.
I also try to teach my cheerleaders that it's part of their job to positively influence the culture and climate of our school. Ya think maybe that trying to encourage others might be a good way to do that?
Really simple things. Saying please and thank you, smiling, waving, calling people by name, actually making eye-contact. These are so small that you'd think they were inconsequential, wouldn't you? Or how about the lost art of writing thank-you notes? (I actually got one from a recent graduate yesterday.) These tiny, simple things don't sound like they'd make much difference in the world, but what if we all made more of an effort to do encourage one another? Just imagine what a difference it could make.
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