Daryl Wood's Blog

Once in a century a man may be ruined or made insufferable by praise. But surely once in a minute something generous dies for want of it. John Masefield.

I love this quote and it has been pinned to my bulletin for years. Today it felt like something calling to me. The past week I have found myself in the position of being able to acknowledge others with kindness and compliments and encouragement. I felt grateful to be willing and able to give people some recognition for how they were showing up in the world. At my movement class a woman shared how she praised the government employees at the passport office for their gentleness in explaining the process. She was beaming. I was beaming. We all nodded approval of her gestures of appreciation for someone’s helpfulness. And surely the ripple effect will continue.

Thinking that ‘something generous dies for want of it’ moves my heart. Many years ago Doug and I were so impressed with the extra great service we received from a student working at a gardening centre. She was enthusiastic and patient with us and it mattered. So I sat down and wrote an email to her boss saying how much she had made an impact on us that day. When we saw her later she told us how much it meant to her because her boss used it to celebrate good customer service. Then, fast-forward many months and she sent us an email! She was a new teacher and at the end of the term she had her students write notes of acknowledgement to each other. They were all thrilled with the results and she told us that she had done that because of how much our message had meant to her.

We didn’t gloat about the influence we had on her. Instead, we laughed and talked about all those little kids praising each other and being seen by their classmates. We imagined how proud they would have been showing their parents what they had received. It felt good to be part of something bigger than us.

And every day, whether we recognize it or not, we are part of something bigger than us.