P is for Praise

In my mind, Praise is to the soul, what a nutritious meal is to the body.  A simple expression of approval can go a long way, and it doesn't matter if a human being is 1 or 101 years old.  Of course, it has to be sincere and well deserved, or it will not be credible.  I can testify to the power of praise in my personal and professional life, as I've praised others, as well as when I've been praised.  I found an article by Victor Lipman at Psychology Today, where he provides four reasons why praise is necessary at the workplace.  However, I feel that they apply to any situation.  Here the are:

Happy Birthday, Walter!
Roben-Marie Smith Cardbase; K&Company Dimensional Seahorse Die; Tim Holtz Simple Sayings Stamp and Distress Pads; Ephemera; Ribbon Scrap; EK Success Mini-Tag Punch; Adhesive Foam Pad Squares; and Sharpie Micron Pen
The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #23 - Dimension
Karen's Word Art Wednesday #226-227
Sue's Image-In-Ing
Number 1, praising is cost effective.  Although bonuses are excellent motivators, they're not always plausible.  For example, as an educator, I know I won't get raises for my work, but it is very encouraging when students, parents, peers, and administrators praise my work with the students.

Tangled Horse Tile
Stradmore Artist Tile; Pigma Micron Pens; Mechanical Pencil; and Blending Stump
Alexandra's Sunday Sketches
Try It On Tuesday: Mood Board Challenge
Julia's What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday #360
Number 2, praising doesn't require much time or effort.  Telling someone, "great job" or "thank you," only takes a few seconds or a few minutes, if you elaborate.  For example, I may praise a student  about a paper he/she wrote by saying, "I like the way you drew an image in my mind through your choice of words."

Butterfly Etegami & Haiku
Yasutomo Sumi Ink; Winsor & Newton Watercolors; Liner & Round Paintbrushes; Uniball Air Pen; Hand carved Name Stamp; and Rubber Stampede Asian Symbols Stamp.
Ramona's Inspire Me Monday - Week 225
Etegami Fun Club
Kristin & Eva's Paint Party Friday - Week 8 Year 6
Number 3, praising is a great way to improve a person's self-esteem.  People are much more productive when they feel good about themselves, than when feeling unappreciated.  For example, as a parent, I always make it a point to praise my daughters when I know they've worked hard to accomplish one of their goals.

My Favorite Café
iPhone 6S and Pixelmator
Our Beautiful World: OBW 144 ~ Café
Denise & Roger's ABC Wednesday - P is for Praise
Rebecca's Haiku My Heart
Finally, "when employees feel good, they work harder."  Positive morale raises the level of energy in people, and this can be attained by feeling valued.  For example, as a husband, I make it a point to complement my wife for everything she does for the benefit of our relationship… which is a lot!

Mother's Day Card
Brother's Scan'N Cut 2; Tim Holtz Tiny Things Stamp Set, Butterfly Tissue Tape, Distress Ink Pads, & Baroque Die; Prismacolor Colored Pencils; Assorted Paper Flowers; Vintage Buttons, Embroidery Floss, & Rick-rack; EK Success Corner Adorner Punch; Making Memories Stapler; Sharpie Micron Pen; DCWV Four Seasons Stack; and Paper Studio Gatefold Card.
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Butterfly Beauty
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Make It Girly
Moo-Mania ~ Floral
As you can see, Lipman's reasoning on the importance of praise in the workplace applies to every aspect of our lives, as I pointed out through my examples.  Most importantly, let us not forget the words found in Psalm 148, "…praise the Name of the Lord, for his Name only is exalted, his splendor is over earth and heaven."  Blessings!

Comments

Christine said…
Nice positive post on praise, and lovely work for the challenges!
Valerie-Jael said…
Lots of beautiful work and thanks for joining us at TIOT, Valerie
chrissie said…
Such a beautiful post

Thank you for sharing it with us at Try it on Tuesday

Love Chrissie xx
sheila 77 said…
Oh yes, we always feel better with a bit of praise, how good it is, for example, when we get a thoughtful and encouraging comment on our blog.
What a lovely birthday card, it's something quite different, as is the Mother's Day Card, and your Tangled Horse Tile is wonderful with its very pretty horse and the great message.
And thanks for the reminder with the words of the Psalm.
Best wishes for a lovely week ahead.
Marjut said…
Beautiful work. Thank you for joining us at TioT.
Unknown said…
Wonderful card for our challenge - love the 'worlds' you created in the background! And as for praise, excellent post! I work with dementia patients and it is amazing even when they might have a hard time understanding anything else, a little praise lights their faces right up! Thank you so much for playing with us at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!
Gail said…
Your work is always outstanding and stunning! I love to see what you are going to come up with next -God has blessed you richly with the talent of ART - TFS at WAW this week - best wishes in the win - have a blessed day! John 3:16
carol l mckenna said…
Divine art work and great message ~ positive reinforcement necessary for most of life ~ eventually get to a point where it is enough to have your own and your higher power validation ~

Happy Week to you ~ ^_^
Such a beautiful post with amazing artwork Arnoldo!

Thank you for sharing it with us at Try it on Tuesday!
Blessings
Susi
and thans a lot for linking to Moo-Mania & More !
Great to see you there again!
Rosie said…
Gorgeous artwork here

Thank you for joining us at MOO MANIA & MORE
Lisabella Russo said…
Oh these are wonderful, I especially love the horse! Heartfelt praise is a very nice thing indeed.
Anonymous said…
I love your choice for P. I think when we praise the Lord regularly and sincerely it's easier to give those around us affirming and genuine praise, too. It really does lighten the load to hear good words of praise!
Rajesh said…
You are absolutely right about "Praise".
Leslie: said…
And may I praise you for reminding us of the importance of praise! Sometimes it's hard to remember to praise someone else when your own life feels like it's in the toilet. Mine is not - anymore, thank God! And I praise God that He has seen fit to allow me a new life in which I can try to remember to praise others as well as Him.

Leslie
abcw team
Indrani said…
Your creativity amazes me! Such wonderful creations always!
Thank you for the wise words, a lesson learned again!
Happy ABCW!
Lisa H said…
Great post on an important topic! Praise is indeed uplifting. Thank you for sharing your wonderful art with us again at Mixed Media Monthly! =)
MelodyK said…
four wonderful reasons...and right you are ! THe list could have been longer but your four say it all


Wonderful blog, as always, loved to read it

Have a nice abc-wednesday-day / – week
♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ (abc-w-team)
I love all the art, but my favorite is the horse. That one is sooo beautiful. And ofcourse your text is making my mind thinking about al lot. Wonderful words to.
Have a nice day!
debby4000 said…
Love all the creations you've posted
Thank you for joining us at Simon says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.
Luv
Debby
Susanne said…
Great post, both visually and mentally. Thanks! Happy WOYWW. Susanne #38
glitterandglue said…
How true, Arnoldo, that we should take care with our words - Praise and encouragement are SO important. One negative can apparently count out, in our minds and hearts, ten positives!!! Let's encourage and praise much more often.
Great work, again. Lots of different styles of work.
Take care. God bless.
Margaret #2
Unknown said…
Good Morning Arnoldo. You words are trully touching to me and they are so true it only takes a minute to pass on a kind word or two and the effect it makes is like a ripple that continues forward to all. Your art work is so beautiful and the card for your wife she is going to love it. Have a wonderful week and thanks for visiting my blog earlier. Hugs ~Anne L#14
Lisca said…
You are so right about praise. I learnt from my husband of 25 years about praise. We praise each other in our marriage and i used to do it at work. It works!
Most important of all I have learnt to praise God in all situations.
Thank you for visiting,
Happy WOYWW,
Have a good week too,
Lisca
Sharon said…
Great post! So thoughtful.

Wonderful art and lovely Mother's Day card.

Have a great week
Sharon K #46
Sharon Madson said…
Love your positive posts. Love your tangled horse tile, and the rest of the projects are special, too. Happy WOYWW! #61
Hi Arnoldo, your post is brilliant and just right as I want to thank you for the praise you gave me about my art work, you're very kind. Now I can return this as I think your work today is brilliant, I especially like the card for Walter. Have a great week, your grateful friend Angela x
ToadilyDiane said…
wonderful words of wisdom. Thanks for sharing. Also your cards are great too!
Have a great day.
Diane - WOYWW #36
Annie Claxton said…
Wise words indeed Arnoldo TFS. Beautiful artworks too, I especially love the Walter card with the artsy background and quirky embellishments and the haiku with that delicate illustration. Gorgeous :o) Annie C #35
you are SO right!

ROG, ABCW
A lovely post...and so true - positive words and praise gets a better outcome all round! Love all your artwork! So pleased you joined us at Try It On Tuesday! Chrisx
GalleryJuana said…
An excellent reminder of how far praise can go for anyone. Loving the sumi ink etagami and poetry.
Ros Crawford said…
As always a beautiful post and lovely photos... Thanks so much for sharing at OBW!!!
Reader Wil said…
What you said about praise and approval is absolutely true. I even learned that praise is stimulating. However some people believe that being honest means criticizing people and telling them that you don't like his work or house or clothes or ... Anything.
I want to be honest and therefore I only say what I mean. I found that in every post there are beautiful or interesting points. Those points I praise and the uninteresting points I just ignore unless I am asked to give my honest opinion. Even then I try to say it very carefully.
Your posts are ALWAYS interesting, creative and pleasant.
Have a great weekend.
Wil, ABCWTeam
Nikki said…
Such a positive post and yes everyone likes to get praise every once in a while beautiful creations Hugs Nikki 7
Ariadne said…
So nice words. It's a pity people are afraid to praise others, or are jealous to do so. Thanks for sharing in Our Beautiful World.AriadnefromGreece!
Great artwork. (I haven't visited in awhile, but I always enjoy it when I do.) You made very good points in your post.
"I enjoyed those 4 praises and good reminders for us all, wherever we are. Wonderful artwork, Arnoldo. Your blog always makes my heart smile. :)
J C said…
Nice mixed media artwork, and wonderful, positive, truthful post. Many lessons to heed in these words.
Lea said…
Your post has invited me to think about what happens to me when I receive praise and when I give it. My heart opens, I see the world differently and I allow myself to be vulnerable. Thank you for these gifts of yours in word and image Arnoldo. What a treat to come and visit here.
Learning the Word is a great way to grow!
Anonymous said…
i like all your bright colours lovely post
Such a beautiful post with wonderful art. Blessings!
Linda Kunsman said…
those are excellent and very valuable points about praise! Beautiful art projects. I especially love the seahorse on your first card. Happy PPF and almost weekend!
Unknown said…
A wonderful post ( as always :-) with such creativity!
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
Bless you,
MiSchra ♥ #25 this week on PPF
Faye said…
I always look forward to your wise words and beautiful illustrations and paintings. Great post!
Giggles said…
Gorgeous artwork this week, love the horse! Praise and gratitude are the foundation of my life! We often yell out I appreciate you in a very sincere meaningful way! It sure elevates a person demeanor to know they are loved and appreciated! Beautiful post! We need this attitude to go viral and trump so much negativity we are constantly fed!! Good job my friend!! Good job!!

Hugs Giggles
Michele said…
what a lovely post -- and true! xo
Mark said…
How could one possibly go wrong by living a life of praise?