The importance of praise and encouragement in one's life

I realized that I could not be angry with my mother for too long because deep down in our hearts, we love each other and care for each other. But its just that we are very different in character and can't really communicate. She has never expresses her love for me in words, and has never praises or encourages me in my whole entire life. That's why I have never felt the importance of praise and encouragement in my life and I just feel that I never really needed it. Hence, in the beginning of my teaching years, I find it very difficult to praise or encourage my students. I also don't know how to motivate my students because my parents have never really motivated me in any ways in my whole life. My motivation comes from within myself and my interest and yearning to try different things in life.

However, I do not blame them for the way they treated me. I believe they have their own hurts in their life, and I feel that no matter how others hurt me nowadays, I am able to forget it very fast because I can feel god taking away all those emotional hurts and burden in my heart. As I continue to read Philip yancey's "Reaching for the invisible god", I can feel my heart reaching out to god, and feel myself filled with his love that will never runs dry......People may disappoint, but god will never......