Encouragement

Encouragement is so important. In any situation encouragement is needed so much but is often forgotten about or pushed to the side. Encouragement helps lift the spirits of the people around you and can even boost your spirits as well. In competitive sports sometimes our focus is so much on beating our opponent that we try so hard to bring them down, especially with our words, and loose our desire to have fun and enjoyment of what we are doing. Stated by dictionary.com, encouragement is to inspire with courage, spirit or confidence. Helping each other get through a hard time even just by encouraging them can mean a  lot.

I recently went on a church retreat and the topic was encouragement. We talked about how only good things can come from genuine words of encouragement and how important building each other up is. Our words mean a lot and can change someone's whole day around. We were encouraged to stand out and be known for our kind words and encouragement. The speaker at this retreat made the analogy of being called Barnabas. Barnabas was a man from the bible whose name means son of encouragement and our speaker encouraged us to be known as Barnabas's. We watched this video on encouraging one another, and although it's a little cheesy and on the kid side, I think it really gets the point across.

When a teammate or someone is having a rough day and may not be performing their best it's helpful to encourage them to keep up their spirits and keep at it. Building each other up can only help them as well as you. Especially on a team, it's important for everyone to work together and help each other out. And just think, if you were having a bad day then you would want people encouraging you to keep trying. Even just saying something small can mean a lot to someone. Even just saying "good job" or "keep trying" are encouraging words that can help. When you encourage others it makes you feel good as well and lifts your spirits to try harder. Working together and encouraging one another can only help out your team,  giving them confidence as well as you  to perform your best. So I encourage you to be an inspiration to others through your encouragement and kind words to lift each others' spirits up.

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