Encouragement

[Blueberry]

Unfortunately I wasn't given much encouragement as a child or teen, more the opposite in fact. Anybody who reads posts about my past like on my Journals and Recovery Letters can get a little view of what that looked like. But since this thread is on Protective Factors, I'd like to look at encouragement, not the opposite. Anybody else is free to join in with focus on the positives.

I get a lot of encouragement from others posting responses to me on the forum   pointing progress out that I don't tend to notice from day to day or even month to month. But I also get encouragement from re-reading my own old threads.

Just a few minutes ago I remembered that there have been times in the past when I have been much better at encouraging my Inner Children with whatever task I'm doing e.g. tidying up or cleaning. Praise, basically. When I direct it to one of several Inner Children, it really gets through to me and I can keep going better. Even if that means I manage to sweep a second floor, it's all ENcouragement instead of discouragement. ENCOURAGEMENT - a Tool that certainly used to Work, good for me to try again  

[rainydiary]

Blueberry, I got curious about definitions when I saw your post.

There is encourage as a verb and encouragement as a noun. 

The definition I saw for encourage was to contribute to the growth or progress of.

The definition I saw for encouragement was the act of giving support or giving hope to.

I wasn't expecting to encounter so many different words in the definitions and how the meaning shifts a bit when we consider as a noun versus a verb.

But both seem helpful to me.  I appreciate you raising this as it is giving me a lot to think about.

[Blueberry]

Just a few minutes ago I remembered that there have been times in the past when I have been much better at encouraging my Inner Children with whatever task I'm doing e.g. tidying up or cleaning. Praise, basically. When I direct it to one of several Inner Children, it really gets through to me and I can keep going better. .. ENCOURAGEMENT - a Tool that certainly used to Work, good for me to try again

It's only a day later and I'm much better able to encourage myself to keep going and/or take breaks and go back to the tasks at hand. So it seems just writing about being encouraged has given me courage to keep going

Today in occup. T, I remembered how my old trauma therapist used to encourage and laud my progress: his whole body language and facial expression radiated      and he'd say "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Picturing that in my mind today is giving me encouragement. Since I work on and off with imagery and imagination work, that's an image I can always bring back up again.

Blueberry, I got curious about definitions when I saw your post.

There is encourage as a verb and encouragement as a noun. 

The definition I saw for encourage was to contribute to the growth or progress of.

The definition I saw for encouragement was the act of giving support or giving hope to.

I wasn't expecting to encounter so many different words in the definitions and how the meaning shifts a bit when we consider as a noun versus a verb.

But both seem helpful to me.  I appreciate you raising this as it is giving me a lot to think about.

These are interesting points you raise. I hadn't really thought about the verb and noun having different meanings or connotations. But now you mention it...

I like the way you said encourage as a verb is "to contribute to the growth (or progress) of". Atm there is some progress going on in me versus LL and gardening and what I'm allowed and not. Contribute to the growth of plants... I even painted my flourishing garden in occup. T this morning. May not make sense to anybody else but probably will to me went I read back over it.

I think these differing definitions may give me more to ponder, so thank you rainydiary