"The truest value of a person's contributions is not based on excellence of performance - but on excellence in the use of his/her abilities to make a difference for others."
- from the book "Shaping the Spiritual Life of Students" - Richard R. Dunn
I believe sometimes we can create huge ripples in our world by simply pointing out to a person how good they are in a certain ability. There is value in giving a boost to another soul. It may be that their performance of the action is only mediocre. True. But, we can help to bolster them up for the next time they attempt the same action simply by declaring, "Great job! You did a fantastic job doing ____ this or that____..." The next time they step up to perform this action, they will hear the echoes in their mind of the "Great job!" they did last time, and it is my bet that they will be inspired by those words to do it just a little bit better each time. Sooner or later, with opportunities to try it out and receive praise the individual people that exist in our lives will get increasingly better and better at what they do.
What will you echo into someone's world? A word of encouragement or perhaps, the deafening sound of silence? What would you rather hear?
