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I am happy for you. Powerful words, right?
And my two favorite variations:
I am so pleased for you (a bit more cautious).
I am thrilled for you (yes, over the top).
When something good happens to a colleague or a friend, we tend to say Congratulations. We may even send a congratulatory note. Nice.
But I am happy for you elevates the well-wishing. It puts ME into the congratulatory expression. And it gives the other person the gift of MY supportive emotion. An instant relationship enhancer.
I used to not say I am happy for you because I didn’t know how to be truly happy for you. And I didn’t know how to say it.
Sad, yes. I think of this as I dine with my friend Mark Johnson. While we gorge on heaps of tantalizing sushi, our conversation takes us on a trip down memory lane, to a time when we both lived in the same cities but our paths had not yet crossed. It is one of those delicious conversations in which one discovers new things about a friend.
And new things about oneself.
I used to not know how to say it. And I couldn’t say it because I didn’t feel it.
When I feel happy for you I, of course, feel happy for myself.
My friend and former neighbor, Emunah Herzog, left Hollywood for marriage and a quieter life in West Virginia. During a phone call we catch up on all that has happened in our lives over the span of two years. It has been a good ride in my neck of the woods.
I am so happy for you , Emunah says. Sweet.
My business relationships are so much better now than they were back then. I have learned to be happy for others. And the happiness is expressed. The path is simple.
Congratulations is nice. And it is neutral. Shift to the happy-for-others place. Feel it. Say it. I am happy for you.
Experience the impact of supportive emotional language.
Reap the rewards of heartfelt good will.