“Words of affirmations matter. Some people never hear them. Be that person that give hands them out freely!”

By Misty Strieff Prine

“Each of us has lived through some devastation, some loneliness, some weather

superstorm or spiritual superstorm. When we look at each other we must say, I understand. I understand how you feel because I have been there myself. We must support each other because each of us is more alike than we are unalike.” – Maya Angelou

I was talking to someone the other day, someone I now consider one of my dearest friends although we don’t see each other very often, about this very thing and how ironic is it that I ran across this at a time that I think is SO important for so many to hear. I’d seen her at one of the toughest times in her life many years ago and as we were talking the other day, as I saw the glow in her face and her infectious smile spread to mine, it came upon my heart to tell her just how proud I was of how far she

had come. She showed such dignity, self-respect, strength, had learned to stand up for herself after being in the midst of a such a very toxic, controlling relationship, was not confident in making her own decisions, had taken hold of her faith, had become independent, and was literally brightening the world around her with her beautiful smile. On top of everything, her dream was to be able to have the strength to stand up for what she wanted and that was to travel to go back to spend time with her family like she always longed to do. And she has now been twice.

I have always tried to be there for her and for many more like her. Our stories may differ, but we all have been through storms. We have to offer support, kindness, prayers and words of encouragement to one another. You should have been there in that very moment when I told her I was proud of her. You could tell that to be told that someone was proud of her meant something to her. Let that sink in. She said, “Really? No one has ever told me that before.”

Words of affirmations matter. Don’t think that they fall on deaf ears. If it comes on your heart to say them, say them. You don’t have any idea how badly someone may need to hear them. You also don’t know how badly someone needs to hear YOUR story about how you overcame! Your journey can help someone else!

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