Winning Words

Words of encouragement, kindness draw attention

Column by Michael Norton
Posted 9/12/19

Thanks again for all of the emails regarding my column and the “Winning Words” found here each week. I truly appreciate you all. Interestingly enough, and based on the community’s feedback, it …

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Winning Words

Words of encouragement, kindness draw attention

Posted

Thanks again for all of the emails regarding my column and the “Winning Words” found here each week. I truly appreciate you all.

Interestingly enough, and based on the community’s feedback, it seems like the stories I have shared and columns I have written over the years that include “softer” topics such as kindness, encouragement, love, trust, hope and faith always generate more emails each week than when I speak about leadership, change, careers, conflict and professional growth.

If I write about having courage in the face of change, the emails typically tend to focus on how to find that courage more than deal with the change. When I address the importance of encouragement in a leadership role, the responses are weighted more heavily on the encouragement aspect and less on being a leader.

This tells me that even in our ever-changing, fast-moving, often turbulent and upside-down world, we need to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that there is more than just the rush and crush of life that is right in front of us sometimes. For some who deal with the brutality of reality so often, when they have the chance to catch a glimpse of something positive, they not only reach for it, but they leap for it. At least that is what I see in the emails I receive.

The other side of the story that I hear about is just how many of you seek out the positive words, the winning attitudes, the loving relationships, the majesty of the mountains, and the serenity of the sunsets as a defense mechanism. Recognizing that if you didn’t look for the “good,” that the “bad” would overtake you and consume your thoughts and energy.

I really love what one of our readers, Susan, shared with me in a recent email, “When I allow myself to see positive words, whether on a billboard, a storefront, a hand-painted wooden sign, online, in a magazine, or in one of your columns, it is like I am living in the light of those winning words.” She went on to share more about her choice of the word, “allow,” because she felt like sometimes, “the negative noise steals my freedom to choose goodness.” Have you ever felt that way? I think we all have, or even do, at some point.

This is why it is so important to find and strike the balance between the noise and what we allow in, and what we choose to defend against. It is so vital to have people and places in our lives that bring us joy and happiness. We can build ourselves up and choose to lift others up through the words we use, write, text and email. Positive, encouraging, good, powerful, life-giving, loving, kind and generous words bring us to living in the light, they help drown out the noise of negativity.

For some of us who are very visual people, we love to see the good and positive words on display anywhere just like Susan. For others who tend be more in touch with the audio form of hope and encouragement, they need to hear those words more often. And lastly, there are still others who need to feel those words of kindness and generosity in action. And whether those people around us need to see, hear, or feel those beautiful and life-giving words, they probably are looking to see, hear, or feel them from us.

So how about you? Are you someone who is also looking for the positive side of life found in a simple word? Do you keep a healthy word bank handy that is filled with words of hope and encouragement? I would love to hear your own winning words at gotonorton@gmail.com, and when we can choose to live in the light of all of our winning words, it really will be a better than good week.

Michael Norton is a resident of Highlands Ranch, the chief revenue officer at Eventus Solutions Group, a strategic consultant and a business and personal coach.

Michael Norton, kindness

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