One compliment a day can make a difference

Today I want to encourage you to compliment a complete stranger. It is very easy for us to look at someone and find something negative. What if we changed our mind-set and find the positive thing first. I've learned from personal experience that complimenting a person can change their day for the better. We assume people are fine when we see them, that they are just a regular person having a regular day. But the truth is we don't know what that person is going through or gone through. The fact is we all have struggles and some of us hide it better that others.

I worked as a teller at a bank a few years back. There I made it my job to give a compliment to every person I saw. I remember serving an elderly woman one afternoon. She came in to deposit a check that day. She was very sweet and polite, with a beautiful head of gray hair. The thing I remember most about her that day was her top. She was wearing a bright pleated flower shirt. She shined bright that afternoon.

Before I finished her transaction, I smiled and said, "I love your top, it looks beautiful on you."

The most precious smile appeared on her face, her cheeks became red and her eyes moist with tears. For a second I thought I said something wrong but then she asked with her now shaking hands covering her chest, "really?"

"Yes really," I answered. You look lovely in that top."

Tears began to roll down her red cheeks and she smiled. It wasn't until that day that I realized how powerful one simple compliment can be.

See the beautiful flowered top woman suffered from breast cancer and had to get a mastectomy as a result. Having both her breast remove as a result of cancer was very devastating for her. She struggled with her new body and tried her best to disguise it.

That flower top she wore "hides my flat chest," where her exact words. "It makes me look like I have breast...makes me feel like a woman again"

This story I speak of accrued three years ago, but to this day I can see in my head a very clear image of that woman's facial expression when I complimented her top. She wasn't sure of herself, but I reassured her, with one compliment, that she was still beautiful.

Words are powerful, especially when they are kind. We can change a person's life with one kind word. We can brighten their day with a 'hello'. we can lift their self-esteem with a simple, 'you are beautiful'. We can put a smile on their faces with a 'thank you'. We can give them a reason to keep going with a 'you can do it'. We can give them hope for tomorrow with a 'Job well done.' And on a more serious note, we can give them a reason to live by letting them know how much their needed and appreciated.

So the next time you see someone I dear you to make them smile. Send them some kind words. Give them a thumbs up. You are awesome for reading this article by the way. High Five!