Small words land deeper than we think.
One sentence can echo in someone’s body for years.
The old pattern is to stay quiet.
“Everyone already knows their strengths.”
“It would be weird to say something.”
“I do not want to sound cheesy.”
But most people are walking around with a louder inner critic than you can imagine.
They remember every failure.
They doubt every win.
Encouragement is not flattery.
It is naming the real courage, effort, or care you see in someone and handing it back to them as evidence.
“I noticed how patient you were with that.”
“You keep showing up, even when it is hard.”
“That thing you do really matters.”
These small inputs change the curve of a day.
Sometimes the curve of a life.
Love, here, is choosing to speak to the steady part in someone when they cannot feel it themselves.