Ripple Effect II

Fortunately for my blood pressure, today brought no curious Post-it finders. That's really okay, though, because I need time to generate excuses and general composure. :-)

I actually ended up hiding my Post-it outside of the school building. Don't worry—I'm not nervous about leaving it there or anything, sometimes I just want to leave it in a more public place.

So, on that note, I left it in a gas station that I stopped at on my way home from work. I actually had no reason to stop, except for the Post-it, but ended up buying gum because I felt weird walking into the bathroom and leaving. (I really did want to buy some gum, though. I promise.) In any other town, making a pit-stop at a gas station just to "use the bathroom" wouldn't be weird at all. However, living in a little town, I figured I'd cover all my bases and just spend the ninety-nine cents and get some gum. I'll thank myself tomorrow for it, anyway.

I just scribbled the sticky note in the parking lot, but later realized that I really liked it. It seemed pretty simple—my handwriting, one color, no decoration... But there was something inside me that really clicked with the message.

Although I'm a quote nut and the queen of insightful words (Repeating those of others, that is), this particular Post-it really spoke to me.

Instead of me telling a person how beautiful they are—which, sometimes, is exactly what they might be needing to hear—in this case, I'm inviting them to see what I see. Because it's on a mirror, it's almost instinct to glance up when you're washing your hands. If you're anything like me, on any given day there might be a hair out of place, a smudge of make-up, or blemish that quickly sends negative vibes throughout our mind. Hopefully, upon seeing this message, someone will give it a second thought. Instead of jumping to what's not in check, they'll take an extra second to think about what really makes them beautiful.

I have this idea that you can tell someone something as often as you like, but they won't truly grasp the concept until they believe it for themselves. Once in awhile, people do need to be reminded how lovely, talented, and gifted they are. But once that seed is planted in them and they can see it on their own, then they have the shining potential to share that feeling with others. It's like a never-ending chain... Like a ripple effect.

Don't forget how BEAUTIFUL you are, okay? Inside and out.

Meagan

P.S. As I mentiond in my very first post, this Post-it idea came from another blog called Operation Beautiful. The concept is the same and people send in pictures of their notes that they leave. It's a very well-done, inspiration site that I would definitely recommend you check out! Espcially, because Caitlin (The editor) recently posted a few of my own! You might just recognize them ;-) Super exciting.