Encouragement

“One of the most beautiful gifts in the world is the gift of encouragement. When someone encourages you, that person helps you over a threshold you might otherwise never have crossed on your own.” – John O’Donohue

There are times in our lives, when we see the full vision of possibilities for our lives. We see it when we are young and full of hopes and dreams. We haven’t yet been taught the false teachings of “you aren’t enough”. Not smart, pretty, rich, skinny, etc…, enough. As adults we get glimpses of it and immediately the inner voice starts in. It starts in with all the possible obstacles or responsibilities that you have. Things which will prevent you from achieving that dream. A warning sign that says “Stop – Danger, Bridge Out”.

We all need encouragement. When someone is brave enough to state their dream aloud, whether they are 4, 40, or 80 years old, they are asking for encouragement to pursue it. It is something that we should give to them whole heartedly. We all can remember times when we told something to someone that we wanted to bring into our lives. So to not be hurt, we added a negative energy comment at the end of it, to deflate our dream before they could.

Hopefully the person that we confided in encouraged us to go for it. It is something to think about when we hear others express their dreams. Look for ways to not only encourage them, but offer to help bring that dream into reality. When they express that dream to us, it might be so big that they can’t even begin to imagine how to accomplish it. Just help them see the first step. Once they get going, they will be led to see the next step, and so on.

What I loved about this picture is that it has the appearance of angel wings. The divine being, that we all are. The fact that we all have angels around us encouraging us to pursue the dreams. Whatever you are currently dreaming, pursue it with everything you have.

Ask for divine guidance. Ask for your friends and family to help you. Don’t let the “monkey” mind discourage you from pursuing it. Don’t let obstacles stop you. Remember that they are really just illusions. There are days when you are wading through mud. Where it feels like you are being stopped at every turn. Days where you have decided that you should just give up. That thinking is all illusionary. The truth of the matter is that you need tools in your toolbox to achieve your dream.

Every one of those times you feel that the universe is stopping you, you are getting a new tool. This is something that you will need to accomplish your dreams. I am sure that like me, you can think of times in your past where this was true for you.

I encourage you to do two things. Pursue your dreams and don’t let them die. Encourage everyone you meet to do the same. I think that when we do that, the whole world will shift and change into the world that we dream about living in.

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Sheryl Silbaugh

I am married with 4 grown children who are all married and currently have 14 grandchildren and two great granddaughters. I work fulltime as a Director at Bank of America and I am the founder of LemonadeMakers.org, which is a website and Facebook page dedicated to personal transformation and growth. We all have life's lemons show up in our life, this website helps us to make them into lemonade.