In my lifetime I have had hundreds of people younger and older than me offer words of advice pertaining to what I might do, should do, or absolutely not do. Some of that advice passed through my ears like a stiff breeze through a back porch screen door. Here and gone...just like that. However, some of those words of advice (counseling might be a better term) settled into my memory bank and are still vibrant years later.
Words count when they come from people who speak from the heart, speak from experience, and speak with an appreciation of who you are and how you might receive what they have to say. In sum, they really care about what they are saying to you, and they do so in the right way. I'll also include "written" words here...not just those spoken face-to-face.
For example, I read a number of Blogs daily...all associated in some way with photography. One of those is written by a highly regarded photographer who works as a "tech rep" for a major camera company. On his daily blog he shows a photo, writes about the technical aspects of it in some way, and then often adds words of encouragement or inspiration which might or might not be related to the photo. His written words count as far as I am concerned...because they come from his heart.
I also recall coming to work early one morning when I was assigned to an engineer troop unit. After I sat down at my desk I spotted a 3x5 note card propped up in its center. The card contained a hand-written note, in pencil that read, "Thanks for taking care of the troops. From one of them." I saved that card, but never did find out who wrote down the words. All I know is that they counted...then and today.
