Encouragement and Encouragers

Categories: spiritual-journey

Date: 08 September 2009 06:31:35

I am a rather excited TG today; I finally get to meet the man who changed my life and say thank you in person.
This may seem a bit wierd, but let me explain. In late December 2007 when I had a prompting in my spirit to go back into post-grad study I thought I was mad. The only places I could think I wanted to go were Fuller in the US and Regents in Canada. This was mad day dreaming I realised and so had a look around the UK....drawing a blank about who to approach. So I went back to the text books I'd used during my MA and found the details of the author who had academically addressed the topic I was interested in, briefly. I headed over to Google and found some contact details and sent an e-mail.

To be honest I didn't really expect an answer, or if I did a polite one suggesting I get back into the real world. The reply I got was encouraging and helpful. I was given a name at Durham whom I should contact for a chat about it all......and the rest they say is history.

The impact of that e-mail reply on my life is almost immeasurable. As a result events have begun to unfold which have been totally life changing. This is the power of encouragement, you don't know where it will lead. A well placed word of encouragement really can turn peoples lives around. At Greenbelt they were getting into the hippy stuff associated with the Long Now. It basically revolves around the idea you plant a seed and it can grow into something huge and wonderful. That's what's happening with me. The seed was planted by one quick e-mail of encouragement and now it is growing into something much larger.

Looking back on my life I can identify a few things like that, small acts of encouragement which led to me making significant decisions or going through with ideas I might not otherwise have done. So never under-estimate the power of encouragement and give thanks for the encouragers.