At physical therapy today, in the silence of the room where my therapist was quietly massaging my shoulder, I could hear another therapist cheering on an elderly woman in the main exercise area. “You can do it!”

That’s right. Stand up straight. Look at yourself in the mirror. Stand proud. You can do it. A little more. Yep, yep, yep. It’s OK. I’ve got your back. I will NOT let you fall.

I couldn’t help but smile at her exuberance.

But it was obvious the woman was having a tough time both moving and putting weight on one of her feet. In between the positive encouragement, the patient’s responses were, “I can’t. I’m going to fall. I need to look at my feet.”

When the patient finally said, “I can’t do it!” The therapist replied, “You just did.”

It was a lovely eavesdropped moment.

Later, as the physical therapy aide was overseeing my exercise portion, she remarked that I was doing a good job by pushing myself to make a full stretch.

I told her I know it’s in my best interest to do the exercises as fully as I can because that’s when I will see quicker recovery. She suggested she should make a poster with that quote to hang up because some patients seem to fight physical therapy and refuse to push themselves.

That reminded me of one of my favorite comments from a student. He was a new hire at his company and was also new to the industry. And then he ended up in my public speaking class where he was going to be nudged even further out of his comfort zone.

It was obvious he felt he didn’t have much to offer. So like the therapist today, I needed to be his cheering squad.

I never offer false praise to make someone feel good. That does no one any favors. Instead I coaxed him to let his individuality show. And I noticed the small wins; it was obvious he had started practicing, and he became a star at talking individually to each person in the room while presenting.

So his comment came to me in the form of an email several weeks after class had ended. Short and sweet, it said simply: Thank you for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself.

Be a cheerleader to someone this week. Remind them to stand proud, and that you will NOT let them fall.