Who Is Going to Encourage Me?

It was one of those days, and I needed some encouragement. A friend’s comment started a ripple effect that is helping spread encouragement far and near.

I’m all by myself.

I had a poor night’s sleep, got up with a headache, had a three-hour meeting to look forward to at work, and this past weekend I found out my bathtub was leaking!

We have all experienced those days or weeks when everything seems to be, well, a challenge.

A new perspective

I was feeling depressed. I needed encouragement. Where would I get it? What would I do? I was in the midst of pouring out my woes to a friend, when she made a comment to me: “Have you thought of all the people who have it worse than you do? You are really lucky to have a home, a job, enough to eat, etc.”

Right, I thought. Sounds like the broccoli that your mom says you should eat because kids are starving in Africa.

Cards of encouragement

Despite my doubt, I thought about the advice and set a goal for myself. I wasn’t sure how long I could sustain this, but there was no time like now to start. I decided to send a card each week to someone I thought might need encouragement. These people were all suffering trials of some kind—illness, job loss, the death of a loved one, etc. Many, if not most, of the people I wrote to would not be able to respond. However, I kept on sending the cards.

Once in a while I’d hear from one of the recipients, or I’d hear from family members how much it meant to them to receive the card.

Most of all, though, I found my thoughts going in another direction—who would I send a card to this week? How was the person who received last week’s card doing? What kind of an effect did the card have on their week? Other possibilities I found were phone calls and visits.

Indirect benefits

Did this cure my headache, give me a better night’s sleep or diminish my challenges at work? No, not directly. However, I soon found my attention focused on the lives of the people I was writing to and not exclusively on my own challenges.

The encouragement I was looking for came from seeking to encourage others. It gave me that brief break from thinking about my own troubles and enabled me to focus on others.

So, if you find yourself feeling discouraged or depressed, try doing something for someone else—you, too, might find it works!

Barbara Lee attends the Twin Cities, Minnesota, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, and works as an IT business analyst in the financial services industry. She is a musician and an exercise enthusiast in her free time.

For more about encouragement and service, see:

• The Power of Positive Expectations and Encouragement
• Love in Action: Prayer Plus
• Feeling Alone? Consider a Walk