Why is encouragement so foreign?

What if we lived a life filled with only encouraging thoughts, and encouraging words. What if we never put each other down but only uplifted one another in words and actions. I felt a little bit of how that would feel last night and it was wonderful. Last night was girls night for our youth girls. It was a lot of fun. We laughed, we hugged, we cried, we made pizza's and the best part was we had a seat of encouragement. What is this seat of encouragement i speak of? Well it was really a mattress on the floor but the bed of encouragement didn't sound as nice as the seat of encouragement. Anyways, It was kind of like a game. One person sat in "the seat" and we went around the circle and everyone had to say what they liked, loved, admired, or whatever else came to their mind about this person that was encouraging. Everyone got a turn sitting in "the seat" and everyone had to say only encouraging things. Sitting in the sit was uncomfortable, although enjoyable. For some, it was hard to say encouraging things due to the fact that it was their sibling but for some it was hard because they had to show a soft side of them that they don't always allow others to see. I felt like i seemed conceited because i enjoyed hearing these words of encouragement. They lifted up my spirits and made me feel good about who i am. I am a fairly confident woman and it felt good to know that others appreciated me or like my bubbly spirit or that they like that when they walk in a room i want to greet them with big hugs. But i shouldn't feel awkward that i liked it. And is shouldn't of felt foreign for us to hear those things.


Why is it though that when we hear words of encouragement it is awkward. That we shy away from it. That we don't act like we want to hear people say good things about it. Is that what this world has come to? Too many people saying discouraging things to one another that to hear uplifting things seem foreign. What if we lived life where we didn't put others down, but instead loved them unconditionally. Isn't that what God does for us? He may not like what we do or the decisions we make but he loves us regardless, never putting us down and crushing our spirits.
God does that for us and we sometimes reject it like we do when other people encourage us.