A little compliment can go a long way. I’m sure everyone has heard and/or said some variation of this before. “You never know what someone else is going through.” “Try to put yourself in their shoes.” The list goes on. I believe that phrases of this sort have been used so much that they have become clichéd. I don’t necessarily want to say that overusing these phrases has caused the phrases to lose meaning, but I do think that people don’t understand the weight of these words -- unless they are on the receiving end.
It’s easy to tell one of your friends that her new hair cut looks great or to text your sister to have a great day. Although we almost always offer these words of encouragement and positivity out of sincerity (I should hope), it is easy to offer them without thinking about it. You can usually tell when someone genuinely means something, and when they say something as a reaction. The perfect example is when girls start complimenting each others’ appearances. One girl will say something like, “I like your shirt,” and without even thinking about it, the other girl will reply with, “Oh, I like your shirt, too!” or, “I like your dress.” Something along those lines.
A compliment is a compliment, so it’s nice to hear, but sometimes you can tell when it’s not genuine. I don’t believe in giving empty compliments, but that is not what this article is about. Instead of talking about empty compliments, the purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of the weight that genuine compliments and words of encouragement carry. It’s true when they say that you can never fully understand everything that another person is going through. People can have everything against them and still appear to radiate pure joy. They may look like they have everything together, but they are hurting on the inside.
It is during these times that our compliments that we think are oh so insignificant are actually incredibly important. I had been having a rough time last week and felt like there wasn’t anything to do to make me feel better. I got on Facebook and saw that an old friend who I hadn’t talked to in a while had sent me a message. Her message was out of the blue, but it was filled with nothing but praise and compliments. I immediately felt this weight lifted from my shoulders. What that weight was from, I don’t know. An accumulation of things I suppose. But I know for a fact that my friend’s compliments made my day.
Even though that simple exchange of words may seem insignificant, it had a huge impact on me. I had always heard that compliments go a lot farther than you think, but it wasn’t until that moment that I understood the true meaning of it. Now, every time I compliment people or offer them a few words of encouragement, I hope that it brightens their bad days and makes their good days even better. Unless we are going through a hard time, it is hard to comprehend the true impact of only a few positive words.
