Encouragement

I haven't written in a while because I have been overwhelmed with more TAKS testing, end of the year stuff, and on and on and on. Life, basically. Anyway, I read an article that said that when you were feeling kind of low and focused on life stuff then one way to lift everyone's spirits is to tell someone how they inspire you. What a great idea!!!! There are so many friends who inspire me and encourage me constantly. I had 1o of my friends in my cell phone book so I decided to text them and let them know just how special they were to me. I was amazed. I must not tell my friends how special they are enough. Here are some of the responses I got:

"Why?"
"Are you sure you meant to send this to me?" (Actually, 2 people said this)
"What have I done?"
"What are you up to?"
"Thanks! I love talking to you!"
"Thanks! I needed that."

After some explanations that I like these people and that they do inspire and encourage me, I got these responses:

"You are buttering me up."
"Thanks, I think."
"Okayyyy, thanks."

I was telling my husband about this and he asked what I would have done had someone done this to me and honestly... I would have responded the same way. I thought about how sad it is that we are suspicious about a friend telling us how much they like us, inspire us, or encourage us. One of my favorite responses was "You know what? I really needed that because I was having a really bad day." That was really the intent of the texts. It was an encouragement and hopefully a bright spot for someone who needed it. It brightened my day to know that I had given someone a boost.

I think I will start emailing people next and spreading the sunshine there as well. You know, the article was right. I felt a whole lot better after I did this.