Today is “National Encouragement Day”…at least in the United States…but I’m thinkin’ it might not be such a bad idea for Canada, too. Hey, if you and I know about it, and we each encourage two people today, well, maybe that will impact them, and give them strength to go on to encourage two others, and so on. And before you know it, we’ll be a nation that is more optimistic, stronger, and helping each other. (And if it catches on enough, maybe we can get the government to love it, move it to a Monday, and we can get a day off, too. Just kidding…but it’s a pleasant thought! 🙂
I remember someone saying to me once, “Encouragement is fuel for the soul.”
Encouragement can take many forms. A powerful example:
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I saw this video for the first time yesterday, but that story is one that I have loved for a long time. I have frequently shared it at speaking engagements when I’ve been asked to inspire people because of the power that story has had in my own life.
My understanding is that the pianist was Ignace Jan Paderewski, a pianist who was widely respected as a composer, a diplomat, and a Prime Minister of Poland. He was known for saying:
“If I miss one day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days, the audience notices it.“
and
“I established a certain standard of behaviour, that, during my playing, there must be no talking. When they began to talk, I would stop. I would say, ‘I am sorry to interrupt your conversation. I deeply regret that I am obliged to disturb you, so I am going to stop for a while to allow you to continue talking.’ You can imagine the effect it had…”
It’s clear this guy was not some cheerful, softy bloke who went around boosting people for no reason. On the night depicted in the video, he was in New York, playing for a packed concert hall tha had been sold out for 6 months. My understanding was that the song the boy played was actually, “Chopsticks”… but as is depicted in the video, what what Paderewski said to him was, “Don’t stop. Keep on playing. You’re doing great.”
Can you imagine how powerful that is to have someone whisper those words in your ear?
Paderewski had a choice…he could have been critical, brushed the boy off, or ignored him completely as someone else took care of the situation…but he didn’t. He turned a moment that could have gone badly into one that boy and his parents will remember forever. Actually, that all of those in the hall will remember—because encouragement is beautiful.
I think of this story as beautiful too. I have people whispering in my ear, “Don’t stop, keep on playing” and sometimes when I’m discouraged, overwhelmed or simply tired, I listen deep inside for the voices that have given me messages like this over the years, and they fuel me to go on.
We all need voices that say, “Don’t stop, keep on playing”.
Give that message to someone today. An encouraging word, a hand up, a vote of support, a card in the mail, an email, buy his lemonade, help him with his homework so that by the end he feels he gets it and did it himself, rake a yard together…whatever.
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