The Internet is a wild place. Behind billions of screens individuals are connecting with people they will never meet in person. While some choose to bully from the safety of their keyboards, others are using the broad connection as a means to help and uplift the masses. It is a tangled web that can wreak havoc on lives and destroy relationships, it can also provide those hurting and feeling alone with a safe haven of support. Like I mentioned, it’s a wild place.

Every once in a while I happen across people who inspire; people who post more than feel good quotes or products for sale. And, sometimes I find nuggets of wisdom as I scroll through filtered and perfected feeds.

If you see something beautiful in someone, speak it. -Ruthie Lindsey

How often do we call out the beautiful in the ones we love? It’s easy to rest on the fact that those closest to us “know how we feel about them.” But, I wonder if we have forgotten that words are powerful, they are both in abundant supply and completely affordable. In fact, they are free.

I wonder how often we sit in the wake of a death and regret the words left unsaid to the one now gone. Funerals bring families together and evoke stories and memories that have sometimes not been shared for years.

We eulogize people once they are gone.

But, what if we started eulogizing people while they are present and with us? Instead of assuming that people know how we feel or that we indeed do recognize their gifts and talents, what if we actual told them? What if others spoke aloud the beauty they see in you?

I know that speaking beauty would not bring about world peace, but it sure wouldn’t hurt. We all need affirmation; we need to hear how we add beauty and value; we need to hear how we are making an impact. We all need encouragement, to be truly seen and welcomed.

May we not be stingy with our praise, but lavish. And, may we actually mean it.

Let’s all try to speak aloud the beauty we see in others about the things that matter. It’s nice to receive a compliment on an outfit or a particularly good hair day, but something shifts when the depths of a person are noticed, acknowledged and called forth.

After all, there is beautiful inside us all.

Speak it.