Dear Universe,
It was late one night about a year ago when I got “Post-It-ed” for the first time.
I was exhausted and about to head into an evening class when I stopped in the bathroom. I shut the stall door and that’s when I spotted this: a yellow Post-It screaming the message, “Love yourself because you are fabulous!”
It was such an unexpected moment that I did a double-take, blinked hard and read it again a few more times to be sure I wasn’t imagining the whole thing. It was then that I noticed tiny letters scrolled on the bottom that said: www.operationbeautiful.com
I could have cried reading it and as much as I wanted to save it, I left the Post-It in the stall. I knew that someone else might need to read the message too. But I was intrigued and went to the site.
The idea was simple, yet profound. I read that the creator of Operation Beautiful, Caitlyn Boyle, wanted to spread positive messages to help combat the negative self-talk we are all guilty of. To help spread the positivity, all anyone had to do was leave an anonymous note with an uplifting message for someone else to find. Some wrote notes that said, “You are amazing” or “Smile, you’re beautiful just the way you are.” Mirrors in public bathrooms and locker rooms became popular spots for these notes to appear. One of my favorite locations? Anonymous notes tucked into library books.
Genius!
(It’s time I pay it forward so I will post this note today. I hope it impacts someone’s life, but realistically I’ll settle for knowing it makes someone smile—enough to want to pass along the message.)
Being at the receiving end of one of these notes I can say the mission is working. Somehow that note arrived at just the right moment. It was a time when I had more worries than not, more stresses than peace. The familiar piece of paper with the unfamiliar message warmed my heart and made me smile, something that had been a rarity. And even a year later, I still remember the way it made me feel to discover it.
The Post-It distracted me, if only for a few minutes, from the negative thoughts flooding my mind. Ultimately though, the note did more. It made me remember that there is positive everywhere, if you just stop to notice.
Thank you for letting me be one of the recipients behind such an encouraging movement.
Much Gratitude,
A
