encourage
who cheers you on?
who sits on the sidelines of your life and encourages you?
who kicks your butt when you need them too?
who cuts your black eye so you can see?
(like mick did for rocky?)
who's your mick?
who speaks truth to you?
who tells you the hard things you need to hear?
who doesn't let you off the hook?
i'm pretty decent at the 'wow, you're doing a great job.
keep up the good work' encouragement.
when encourage is the cheerleader, i'm your girl. rah rah sis boom bah. and other such things.
but sometimes encourage has to take the tough approach.
the word 'encourage' actually means 'to put courage in.' (shocking, right? bet you never saw that coming.)
the way mick is talking to rocky. he's literally 'putting courage in.'
and the words, they weren't always pretty. but so needed.
i can be way too much of a softie. let people off the hook.
i don't have the courage to confront. i'm too worried about what people will think...
all in the name of love, but is that really love?
truth and love are not enemies. they are connected. partners.
the lesson is in the picture.
mick is about to pull out the razor and cut rocky's eye so he can see.
(rocky DID ask for it but that's really irrelevant to this post.)
a painful but necessary action so rocky could see to finish the fight.
and mick was in rocky's corner, literally, the entire time.
(read the metaphor, people!)
read this for a perfect example of what i'm talking about.
saying the hard thing because it HAD to be said.
how having the courage to encourage changed everything.
i'm gonna leave you with this: love love it. because deep down i am a cheerleader.
