an ode for cheering others on
The lights are dimmed. The crowd is hushed. A little girl stands backstage waiting for the music to begin, holding a votive candle in her 9-year-old grip. The sound technician adjusts the microphone headset she’s wearing one last time as the music begins to swell. She steps through the curtains and begins her walk through the audience, singing as loud as her little lungs will allow.
At home, the little girl doodles on stray paper, envelopes, her mum’s shopping list—anything she can get her hands on! Her mum laughs, smiles, and shares this story joyfully with her friends. The little girl hears her mum’s proud proclamations and resolves to never stop writing if it can bless people like this.
Fast forward a few years. She’s speaking for the first time as a keynote speaker at the summer camp she’s volunteered at for the past seven years. This opportunity is the culmination of years of training, discipling, and encouragement from the director of the camp. It is also a vast improvement from the stuttering girl who shared a testimony during chapel time and never once looked up from her notes.
Again, move the clock ahead, and this time see the girl in her early twenties. She has a blog, but she seldom updates it. She has notebooks full of ideas for essays but doesn’t know where to begin. A friend starts to encourage her to publish the essays and share the words with others—after all, the friend encourages, God can use any little offering you give to Him if you’re willing to show up.
And suddenly, you’re here, reading this today. And the reason you’re here is because important people in my life saw something good and encouraged me to carry on. To pursue music, speaking, and writing. To share the gifts God gave me. To steward them well.
This is mind-boggling to me.
How many people have gifts and talents that lie dormant because they are afraid? How many artists, teachers, or encouragers do we miss out on because they can’t recognize how valuable their contributions will be and nobody is there to inspire them to try? How often do we cling to the status quo because instead of being cheerleaders we become naysayers and critics?
But how much could change if you opened your eyes to notice the abilities and giftings of others?
One of my coworkers is so good at this. She sees the ability in others and is quick to create an opportunity for someone to use their talents. She received a letter from envelopes of hope and loved the lettering on the front of her envelope. That Christmas, she asked me to address some of her Christmas cards with the same lettering. I’ve seen her ask someone who is a gifted baker to whip up a batch of frosting for her. She actively supports the good she sees in the people around her. These may seem like little things, but for someone to believe in you, to recognize that you have something of value to offer—that is not a little thing.
I’ve learned that many people want to love, serve, and encourage others better, but most of the time, they simply don’t know how to go about it! By recognizing the good someone has to offer, you can help them to conceptualize different ways that they can be a part of something bigger than themselves. You can mobilize others for good, not by doing anything extraordinary yourself, but simply by calling someone upward and letting them know that what they do well is actually important. They have something to offer. Sometimes it takes a fresh set of eyes to help you see something in a new light, and you can be that fresh perspective for a friend!
Be the loudest supporter of others that you can be. Notice the gifts of others and give them opportunities to use them. You don’t know how far a little encouragement will go in changing someone’s mindset from I have nothing to offer to How can I share what I have to offer?
Find out what your friends love to do and encourage them to pursue it, whether it’s writing, art, music, teaching, sports—whatever it may be! The world needs beacons of hope and light; it’s such a dark place. But most people don’t know how to go about lighting up the dark. Most of the time, lighting the dark means faithfully showing up to do what you do best and sharing that with others. But if we don’t believe in ourselves, we will never share the things we create. Be the friend who believes in someone before they even believe in themselves. Be the friend who cheers loudly for someone who doesn’t even realize they have something worth cheering on yet. Be the friend who supports your friend’s business or creative work. Be the friend who yells encouragement so loudly that it drowns out the lies the world throws around like confetti.
So much good goes undone because people believe they have nothing to offer or their small contributions don’t matter. But often all it takes to foster an environment of loving and serving others is to recognize and support what people are already doing well or could do well if given the opportunity. And if there’s not an opportunity already there? Create one! Ask a friend with a knack for decorating to spice up your next dinner party. Ask that friend who makes sourdough to teach a small class on breadmaking. Share the writing, art, or photography of a friend with others. Look for the good in others and how you can help draw it out of them.
Think of those mentors all those years ago, who believed in you, encouraged you, and pushed you out of your comfort zone. Think about how far you’ve come. Is this not the direct result of these people gently coaxing you along the way? On my vision board this year, I pasted a quote I found in an old magazine. I’m not entirely sure what the quote was pulled from, but it reads,
You can’t do something like this alone.
Isn’t that the truth? You can’t do this life alone. As I think back on my past, I realize just how many of the good things in my life are the result of someone inviting me to try something or recognizing a talent and giving me opportunities to practice it. The most poignant example is that you are reading this essay right now because various people in my life have encouraged me to pursue the gift of writing.
You can’t do something like this alone. We can’t do something like this alone. Cheer others on as loudly and as often as you can. You don’t know how badly someone needs to hear the words, “this is amazing. Don’t ever stop!”
