“Take my cup and fill it up. You are _________!” Our granddaughter sings this song to us. I love this. The last time she sang it to me she said, “You are the President!” I thought to myself, well no, but you can be the President someday! It is so beautiful to see our daughter and son-in-love build her up in so many ways. They don’t focus on how beautiful and wonderful she is (AND SHE IS BOTH) as much as how they love that she tries to do things and what great ideas she has. They are fantastic parents!
I think our society has really focused on trying to build others up by telling people they are perfect and the best. I have fallen into that category talking about my kids or my job. By doing this, a person might grow up believing that their identity is their job or their sport or hobby. We need to focus more on the attempts and actions people make rather than the results and outcomes. Let’s build people up for WHO they are not WHAT they do! (I don’t mean in competition - like a participation trophy! I am for competing - that’s a whole other story - HA!).
Telling a stranger in the store that you love their outfit or that their hair is wonderful may be just exactly what they need - we will never know. However, let’s look deeper and focus on some of the bigger things we appreciate and adore about people - especially the ones we love. Nothing feels better than getting a compliment out of nowhere for something random. “ I love the way you always keep gas in my car.” “ You always have our yard looking great!” “You always find a way to make me laugh!” and the list goes on!
In a like manner, telling someone, “I really appreciate you listening to me when you could have just as easily told me your opinion and what you think” goes a LONG way! It helps both people. For me, it is easy to encourage others and build others up. However, I have to step back when others do the same for me. How easily do we let other people fill up our cups? It's easy to create excuses when others try to compliment us. We need to practice to be quiet and just say, “Thank you” and stop and think about what that person has said to us. Many times other people see things about us we can’t and others bringing it out can really help us be better humans. Let’s all just be better humans!
How many cups have you filled this week? Have you let others fill your cup? I challenge you to build a new person up each day this week - tell them, text them, leave them a personal note! Also, when someone says something positive to you - NO EXCUSES - just say thanks, smile and just continue being a great human!