This popped up in my Facebook memories today. It was something a student of mine, Hannah, said two years ago. She was in third grade at the time.
Sometimes my students say things that really seem profound. Today we were discussing some vocabulary. One of the vocabulary words was encourage. We'd talked about courage last week and one child raised her hand and said it seems like encourage means that you are taking your courage and strength and sharing it with another to give them strength and hope. What an amazing insight! I'm going to try to share some of my courage with others today!
LESSONS LEARNED: Write down the wise things that others say or you won't remember them! (So glad I recorded this!)
Encourage others...give them a little bit of your courage and strength.
Brene Brown says, "The root of the word courage is cor – the Latin word for heart. ... Courage originally meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart." Over time, this definition has changed, and today, courage is more synonymous with being heroic."
Online Etymology Dictionary has this for encourage: early 15c., from Old French encoragier "make strong, hearten," from en- "make, put in" (see en- (1)) + corage "courage, heart" (see courage). Related: Encouraged; encouraging; encouragingly.
So if courage is to share your heart...then encourage is to make strong by sharing your heart...or so it seems to me. Which also means that true encouragement must be heartfelt and sincere.
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