It really couldn't Hurt, but it could really Help!

One of my colleagues is leaving the company and we had a farewell dinner for him tonight. He is a young man, but is quite an old soul. When asked to give a speech, he said he had not prepared, but then went on to say something lovely about each of the colleagues at the table articulately. After he was done, I asked others at the table to share something nice that they remembered about their interactions with him. I said I would begin, just to give them some time to think and perhaps trigger something within them with my sharing. 

When I was finished, i turned to others gesturing that they should continue with their sharing, but at first they did not want to. The interesting thing is that that are all very friendly and caring people. In fact, though some are slightly shy, most of them are not. I started to ponder why they were so hesitant to speak up, especially because I knew that each and every one of them liked this colleague very much and had experienced plenty of great moments with him both within and outside of work. As I was finishing my thought, one of my colleagues spoke up and said "aiyah, if you all want me to say something I will say lah, but I don't say my feelings out one. I want to hug you also I won't hug I will just keep how i feel inside." 

I'm glad she was honest, and with some nudging she eventually shared a little about what she appreciated about him. But this experience made me think about how important it is for us to push ourselves past our comfort zone when it comes to encouraging others. We might feel shy, or like someone else has already said what we have said, or that you could tell him some other time, or that you don't have anything significant to say...but in my opinion, if you share "something nice about your experience with him" you can't really go wrong! When was the last time you said to someone genuinely:"you know, I really appreciate how great of a listener you are" and that person turned around and said:"what?! I can't believe you said that me...humph" and detested you for what you had said? Yeah, that's right, NEVER! So yes, perhaps its easy for me to say because I'm not generally a shy person, but whether you are or not, just remind yourself how it really couldn't hurt, but it really could help if you are saying something encouraging.