TOW: Praise

This thought of the week will probably be shorter than the rest of them, partly because I'm behind in my errands this week to begin with, and partly because well, it's only a short thought needed. Because you know you're pretty good, right? Like, super awesome? In fact, so AMAZING you know how HOT YOU ARE WHEN YOU LOOK IN THE MIRROR, SEXY BLOG READER.

Praisie doesn't need to go on for a long time to really have a positive effect. In fact, most of the praise that is valuable, and that we treasure, is usually a one-liner of 'yeah, not bad' from the surliest person we know. (And this individual is usually that authority figure we can't help but admire and dislike at the same time .) And praise is really valuable...in fact, it's usually one of the few things that gives us hope when we start to doubt our ability to carry on with life.

Of course, too much of a good thing can be a problem, as well. The reason some people have really big heads is because they are praised all the time, and come to expect other people to praise them on a regular basis. (Like me. Har har.) Praise can have both positive and negative effects. However, most of us are not that likely to get so much praise as to get a swelled head.

And that's the sad truth. Because one thing a teacher once said to me, and he's a great teacher, is that "Praising someone is like bringing water to someone in a desert." And I think he was right. Nobody would ever say they receive enough, or too much, praise. There are certain circumstances where it might seem that way, but generally speaking, it's rare for us compliment people we like, since we assume they already know how we feel about them. (And it's even rarer for us to compliment people we don't like.)

So, for this week, maybe think about giving a compliment or praise someone for something you appreciate. Because the more you vocalize good feelings, the more those good feelings spread out into the world. Sort of like a really happy, sappy, influenza virus or something. And you'll make the world a better place just by you being in it.

Because you're just that great.

=)