I am grateful for my dear friend, Rachel. Rachel makes a point of dispensing random compliments. Her compliments are always genuine, and she derives a great deal of pleasure from positively impacting another person.  She is very intentional about giving compliments, and will praise someone for their hairstyle, hair color, article of clothing, smile, their eyes, anything at all. (Before you get judgmental because her compliments are for things that are based on appearance- keep in mind that she is usually giving those random compliments to complete strangers that she hasn’t actually had an interaction with.)

I once asked her why she went out of her way to give compliments, and here is what she said:

“I feel like everybody is going through something and people need to hear it.  Particularly when I see someone who is radiating anger – I feel like those people really need to hear something positive about themselves. It matters.”

Then she paused.  “Also, some people are bigger assholes than others and I try to counteract that.”

And THAT is why I am grateful for Rachel.

Do you have a Rachel in your life? Are you a Rachel in someone else’s life? (I hope so!)