The Power of Encouragement

I don't know about you but I have loved the 2012 Olympic Games!!  You could feel the excitement everywhere you went and the thrill of watching Team GB winning medals was fantastic!  But the main thing I loved about the fortnight was the positivity; our country is renowned for being cynical and negative which aren't good characteristics for a country to have.  The cynicism and negativity probably showed themselves a lot in the build up to the Games, what with programs like 2012 (which was very funny), and the 'fiasco' of GS4 not having all the security that was needed for the Olympics, the worries about travel in London and the way the Media portrayed all this.  Even I was worried that the opening ceremony would be a disaster and that we really couldn't pull this all off - but we did, and in great style as well! It was amazing, such a show - and what can I say about the Queen and James Bond? It was sooooo good, she was a real star!

Then once the Games began I felt that we were in an 'Olympic Bubble' which was where people succeeded, and good things were said about them and all other news paled into insignificance.  Actually there were times when I really forgot that there was anything else in the world going on, other than the Olympics.  It was amazing just to see the Newscasters with big beaming smiles talking about the medals that Team GB had won and how amazing they all were.  The TV just seemed to be shining with sunshine blessed sports and Team GB on a winning spree with Golds coming at us left, right and centre.  It felt amazing, it felt so good to be in that positive and encouraging atmosphere, where you felt that these athletes could really go all the way and win and that this was being done for our country and that in some way the country was winning as well! Wouldn't it be amazing to live like that all the time, to live in a country that encouraged, was positive, had faith in it's people and believed  that they could do it! What could we achieve?


I would love to live in a world where all the News Reports were like they were during the Olympics but not just about Athletics and sports but about normal people and, dare I say it, even Politicians.  I know there is bad news and horrible things happen, but because that is what we are bombarded with all the time we can begin to believe that this these things are happening all the time to everybody and it makes us see the world in a dark and fearful way.  But what if those things were reported just as facts and only mentioned once on the day it happened, but the rest of the time it was about the amazing achievements of everyday people, people who had done incredible things.  As much as bad things happen, good things happen too and probably more frequently but we never hear about them.  What would this world look like if they were the headlining stories and the others were just the tag ons at the end that nobody took much notice off.  It sounds like bliss to me.



How much of the Athletes success was due to the encouragement they got?  Im not saying they didnt work hard but the term 'Home Advantage' was banded about a lot.  Did they achieve so much because we were giving them huge support and encouraging them round the track or down the river, or did we encourage them more because they were achieving?  I think it is both - quite a few of the athletes 'Over Achieved' and you could hear the commentators saying things like 'The crowds cheers are carrying them round the track'.  Oh to cheer like that for the common man, to cheer like that for your child, for your friends, for teachers, nurses, the Police, the Armed Forces, the Independent Shop owner, the newspaper delivery person, the dustbin men, the cleaners of public loos, our Politicians.  I wonder what more they would achieve in their everyday lives and how different this country would feel.  You would feel that you were able to do so much and that everybody was behind you and were with you to the finishing line of whatever it was you were trying to achieve.  It would be amazing.

I am a huge believer in the power of words and in the power of encouragement and positivity.  One of my aims in life is to be an encourager of people and to use my words carefully to build up and not pull down - I do believe that our words have power over our lives, to bless and to curse ourselves and other people so we should use them wisely at all times.  A positive and encouraging word goes along way and achieves much and helps people to achieve their destiny.  I want to achieve my destiny, don't you?