The Power of Your Words

I've just started reading `The Power of a Woman's Words' and I want to share two definitions with you.   I am a `Words of Affirmation' type person so what is said, how it's said, and when it's said, are so important to me.

`What exactly is encouragement? My dictionary defines it `'to give courage or confidence to; to raise the hopes of; to help on by sympathetic advice and interest, to advise and make it easy for [someone to do something] to promote or stimulate; to strengthen."  In contrast, discouragement is `'to say or take away the courage of, to deter, to lessen the enthusiasm for and so restrict or hinder."  (pg. 25, Sharon Jaynes).

I would encourage you (ha, yes, encourage) to take just an extra second before speaking or writing to consider your words before using them.  It is so incredibly easy to strengthen someone, or to deter them, with our words alone.  I think back on some of the biggest decisions I've made in my life and they were often made with some encouragement from a loved one.   Sometimes all we need is a `You go, girl!'. 

Love, 

Louise

`Sticks and stones will break our bones, but words will break our hearts.' Robert Fulghum