In his autobiography, BREAKING BARRIERS, syndicated columnist Carl Rowan (1925-2000) tells about a teacher who greatly influenced his life. Rowan relates:
Miss Thompson reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a piece of paper containing a quote attributed to Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. I listened intently as she read:
“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and
probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans, aim
high in hope and work. Remember that our sons and grandsons are
going to do things that would stagger us.”
More than 30 years later, I gave a speech in which I said that Francis Thompson had given me a desperately needed belief in myself. A newspaper printed the story, and someone mailed the clipping to my beloved teacher. She wrote me:
“You have no idea what that newspaper story meant to me. For
years, I endured my brother’s arguments that I had wasted my
life. That I should have married and had a family. When I read
that you gave me credit for helping to launch a marvelous career,
I put the clipping in front of my brother. After he’d read it, I
said, ‘You see, I didn’t really waste my life, did I?’”
Encouragement and praise is like a boomerang; the more you give it, the more it wants to return. It’s really just a matter of knowing this that can make all the difference not only in your life but in the lives of those around you. Not that we live for praise ourselves. Rather, the more satisfaction we have in giving merely serves to fuel our desire to keep it coming. Find someone today who needs your encouragement, a little appreciation. Let your praise fly and then step back. You’ll want to be ready to catch it on the rebound.
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Carl Rowan, BREAKING BARRIERS (Little, Brown), Quoted in Reader’s Digest, January 1992; secondary source: SermonCentral Weekly