Have you ever been at a meeting, interacting and talking to people, when suddenly you felt the entire atmosphere of the room change? You glance around and discover that someone has entered the room and all focus is shifting towards them. What happened? The thoughts and attitudes we carry inside our bodies manifest themselves in real physical ways a lot stronger then we realize sometimes. The way we walk and carry our bodies. The expression on our face. The tones we say our words in. And even the clothes we choose to wear. All of these are outward expressions of what we think inside. So by knowing how much of our surroundings that we can control, how can we add value to people in those surroundings?
The Value of Knowledge
You can never be too smart. There’s always so much to learn. Everyone we meet has knowledge we can use to build on. It may be good wisdom that we can apply to our growth or it may be negative stories that keep us from future mistakes. By keeping our minds open, we can pick up tidbits of information on many, many different subjects. All will come in handy some day, when talking with someone or dealing with a unique situation. Being knowledgeable in vast areas will help us in understanding others, creating better relationships, or even in giving words of advice. Our knowledge need never be wasted when we share it to add value to others’ lives.
Value of Kind Words
Our words carry so much power. We can use them either to build up or tear down. The choice is ours. By being intentional about our thoughts, we can control our words when faced with unexpected circumstances. The harshness will not come out and destroy relationships. Instead we can have kind words that heal, praise that builds up, and happiness that spills over to encourage. Giving credit where it is due can reach far beyond the current moment. It can give potential to act on buried dreams. Or the push of strength to take the next hard step. Our words can add so much value to those around us. They will look forward to meeting and spending time with us, because we speak words they need.
Sharing Our Experiences
Adding value sometimes means being vulnerable. Not a word we like to think about. But our life experiences, hardships, and victories are what others need to hear. The value they add to people who are going through similar situations is incredible. It brings hope when they can relate to real life people who have made it through the same dark days they are currently facing. It also brings a closeness and realization that we have experience and can be trusted when we share words of advice. Sharing our story with humility can add amazing value even beyond the initial person who received it.
Reaching Out a Helping Hand
It’s been said many times, “a leader is first a servant.” This is so very true when we think about adding value to others lives. Being willing and ready to lend a helping hand whenever we can, encourages so many. They can feel the caring heart we have by our actions. And a caring heart goes far in people who are struggling to keep going on.
We all have special talents and gifts that would be gratefully accepted and needed. We do not need to become overwhelmed with helping everyone, all the time. But if we keep our eyes open we will find plenty of opportunities to lend a listening ear, speak kind words, hold doors open, pick up dropped items, and so much more. Often we skip the small opportunities without realizing how much value they would add to others’ lives.
Choosing to Add Value
Adding value is a choice we each have to make multiple times every day. In fact we’re faced with that choice in everything we do. All of our actions are either adding value or tearing down. If we were determined to add as much value as possible, to every situation we faced, what would our lives be like? What would our community be like? And how much better would our world be?!
