I once knew a man
Who was a success
He had wealth and money
But he also had happiness

Around him he had friends
Who were wealthy just as he
But this man I knew was much happier
Than those friends of his could ever be

I watched him for a while
And tried to learn what made him tick
But nothing made any sense- I mean, really,
who goes to work even when sick?

I finally mustered up the courage
To ask this man about his life
And the answer he gave back to me was interesting
He said, “I owe everything to my wife”

He then went on to tell me the story
Of the woman he was married to
“She is the motivation” he said
“Behind everything I do”

“You see- I used to take her for granted
But I don’t do that anymore
Because she is the reason
I am happier than I ever was before

The man then began to tell me
Of all the ways his wife had encouraged him
And he spoke of all the loving things she’d do
Even when just on a whim

He said, each day when he’d walk out the door
She’d be standing there to bid him good bye
She would encourage him to do his best
And she’d say “I love you” with a twinkle in her eye

She would say that he was handsome
She would say he was the best in the world
It took her quite a while but eventually
His old mentality of self-unfurled

He said, I used to say I was good at nothing
And a poor man I would always be
But my wife encouraged me to become better
And it was her words that helped me see

That I’m as good as I want to be
And I’ll go as far as I want to go
That success is in my choice of thought
And if I don’t try than I’ll never really know

And thanks to that man
From our quick but informative chat
I learned an important lesson on life
It is that:

What you do
And what you say
Will impact somebody
In a unique way

So even if at first,
No results show
Encourage somebody because it’s the words you say
That will go further than you could ever know