The Power of the Unsaid Praise

In a world where grumbles outnumber praise,

Where complaints flow in ceaseless waves,

Words of encouragement feel sparse and slight,

Overshadowed by the clamor of the night.

As stars in the face of the rising sun,

Drowned by the brighter one,

So are the compliments, scarce and few,

In this world where discontent is renewed.

Compliments, they say, are gifts indeed,

Bridges across the human need.

Yet they remain, unspoken, unsaid,

While a torrent of complaints is daily fed.

We fear the way our praise might be received,

So our tongues, in silence, find reprieve.

Anxiety trumps the kind thought unspoken,

Leaving hearts unheard, untouched, unbroken.

In the vast expanse of human interactions,

Too often we engage in one-sided transactions.

The scales are tipped towards the critique,

While words of praise are perceived as weak.

Yet there's power in the praise, the warm embrace,

In recognizing the light in another's face.

The world, it echoes with weary sighs,

Craving compliments to rise in the skies.

Let us tip the scales, recalibrate,

Turn the tide before it's too late.

Let the compliments be freely given,

And see how our world could be re-written.

For the act of praise is a two-way street,

The giver and receiver in kind meet.

An echo of love, a ripple of peace,

A beginning of a great release.

Drown the noise, the harsh and cold,

With words of praise, let the new replace the old.

Let compliments be our song of the day,

In our hearts, our words, and in the way.

For a world steeped in appreciation,

Is a world moving towards a grand elevation.

Where complaints may be a passing storm,

But compliments are the norm.

© Susie Stiles-Wolf