Encourage One Another

Yeah, it's right from Paul's first letter to the Christians in Thessaloniaka, Greece: "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up" But I think it applies to us all. Encourage each other, don't cut folks down. We need a society that builds on the positive and does not dwell on the negative. I'm not talking about the tee-ball mentality where everyone gets a participant ribbon and always gets told 'good job!' - bleccch. Look for ways to build people up. Sounds good but how? By actively looking for ways to encourage each other. Recognize when people do good things - and tell them. Be looking for ways to help, empathize with others and look for ways to help. Here's a tiny example: when traffic is backed up and people are merging or changing lanes, make a space behind the car ahead of you so cars can easily get into your lane. Yep, let someone get ahead of you. I do this and 80% of the time the car gets into another lane or doesn't cost me any time. I think it actually speeds traffic up, especially if we all did that. How about saying thank-you to people who otherwise might be invisible to you? Thank the waiter for refilling your water or soda - you'll probably get a little better service too. Say thanks to the receptionist when you leave a meeting or a doctor's office. Try it. A little smiling can go a long way.