In addition to being a future best-selling author, blog writer, podcast host and postal employee, I also DJ on Sunday with my lovely lady. It would not be my first choice of how to spend a Sunday with her, but she is happy and that is what matters to me. While there, I do my best to positively impact the lives of all those who attend. My goal is to have them feeling better when they leave, than when they arrived. If a couple comes, I do my best to assist them in seeing the miracle they have in their partner. When I am successful with either of these, it brings me a great deal of joy as well. To that end, I do my best to offer encouragement and genuine compliments to those I talk to. In regards to this, gender doesn’t matter. Race is not a factor. What faith they follow? Not very important. As we discussed last post, I believe each person has a great deal of value, whether we are privileged to see it or not.

The importance of this was driven home to me the other night by someone I had never met. Margie and I have a friend Nicci. She is a teacher and was about to leave to take some of her students overseas to Italy and Greece. This is incredible. I think it is so valuable to be exposed to different cultures at a young age. I give credit to Nicci and the other chaperones for taking the responsibility for these children on this trip. Before her departure, Nicci had ben kind enough to hang out with my lovely lady and I. She invited several friends and coworkers to join her in this sort of impromptu Bon Voyage party. It was one of these people that generated today’s post.

As we were going through the evening, I was doing my best to help each person to see the beauty in themselves, others and the world around them. One gentleman, Tyler, happened to notice. He also is a DJ and mentioned how much he appreciated the kind words. He also mentioned something that I think is very important for us to take notice of.

Tyler mentioned how rare it is for men to uplift each other. Today’s world can be filled with sarcasm, competition, and all to often, mean spirited banter. Men have a hard enough time expressing their emotions, let alone paying a genuine compliment to other men. We need to make this more of a normal occurrence. Women, if you think this post is just for the men, think again. Encouraging your husband, son or even your father to pay a genuine compliment to another gent may be one of the most important things you can do. Help show them this is not something that makes them less masculine, but quite the opposite.

As a gentleman, I can promise you that is offers a certain amount of pride when another man offers you a genuine compliment. It also shows a great deal about their character as well. Gentleman, when you compliment another man it demonstrates your confidence in yourself not only to them, but to anyone else who is listening. It shows that you understand that highlighting someone’s worth does not diminish your own. Let us all work to create a society where men feel both safe, as well as compelled, to pay another man a genuine compliment. Thank you Tyler for this great reminder.