give love

 

By Tanya Tiger
 

Most of us have heard about random acts of kindness.

Someone doing something kind just for the sake of being kind and making someone else’s day a little brighter. I love this concept and believe that we don’t see enough of these wonderful acts.

So, it made my heart very happy to read an article about someone at an Iowa middle school leaving sticky notes on all of the students’ lockers with messages such as, “You are beautiful” and “You are important.” No one has stepped forward yet to claim credit and I think that is part of what makes this story so impressive. Not only did this person want everyone to start their day off on a good note, they do not care about getting the credit.

For them it’s not about the spot light, it’s about the “feel good factor.” The school’s principal stated in the article that the lesson of character building is something they try and teach to their students on a daily basis. In my book, this act is a perfect example of someone with integrity and a strong character.

I define integrity as doing the right thing even when no one else is watching.

Whoever this was took it upon themselves to make the students in this school smile. It was a small act but small acts can have far reaching effects. Like a pebble dropped in a pool of water, the ripples extend far beyond where the pebble fell.

Having worked as a counselor in a high school, I can say first hand that an act like this could have changed the lives of some of the students. So many kids these days don’t hear You are special, You are beautiful, You are smart, or You are worthy enough, if ever.

Who knows how many students that received one of those sticky notes were being bullied.

Who knows how many go home to an abusive situation every day? Who knows how many of those students went to school thinking about killing themselves when they got home? Who knows how many students were saved by those notes?

Reading this article made me think back to my days in Middle School. I was painfully shy and awkward and I didn’t have many friends. I was bullied—a lot. If I had walked into my school and found one of these notes on my locker I probably would have cried with joy. I would have thought to myself that someone out there cared enough about me to take the time to write a note.

I would have cherished that note until the stickiness was gone and I had to tape it to the inside of my locker.

It would have been so much more than just a note, it would have been a life line.

This article is proof that kind people are still out there and that it’s not all doom and gloom. This article inspired me to work my own loving magic and perform my own Random Act of Kindness. I’m not sure what it will be yet, I just know that a small act can make a huge difference. Wouldn’t it be amazing if everyone who read this article went out and did something nice for someone else? It could be as big or small as we wanted. We could shout it from the rooftop or do it quietly and anonymously like the person in the article. Don’t you wonder how much brighter the world might be if sent our own ripples of love out into the universe?

I know I do.
Love Pebble in hand…

Learn more about that school here: Positive Post-it Notes

Photo: (source)

Editor: Daniel Scharpenburg

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