Sticky note campaign

Watching the news the other morning, I was introduced to OperationBeautiful.com.  This campaign has the goal to end negative self-talk that hurts you emotionally, spiritually and physically.  Founder Caitlin Boyle began this campaign by leaving positive messages on the mirrors of public restrooms – at work, at the gym, at the grocery store.  The messages are such:

“Don’t change how you look, change how you see… you are beautiful.”

“This scale does not measure your worth….you are beautiful.”

“There can never be a more beautiful you.”

 Many people have picked up the campaign after being the beneficiary of a note themselves.  One woman responded “Things like ‘you are beautiful inside and out’….remind me that even though I am struggling so much on the inside, I am still a remarkably beautiful person.”

Affirmations are powerful.  They can uplift, renew, encourage, strengthen.  Affirmations come from many places – ourselves, those we love, friends, people we work with…even a sticky note left by a stranger on a mirror.

I wondered for a bit about my own self-talk, my self-worth and where my affirmations come from.  I also wondered about the same in respect to my children. 

Two immediate thoughts happened:

First, my greatest affirmation (and so I hope I’ve instilled in my children) comes from the fact that I am a beloved child of God (John 1:12 ‘Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God’). I am “fearfully and wonderfully made”.  I am loved beyond human comprehension (John 3:16). 

Secondly, do I verbalize positive affirmations often enough to those I love?

I decide that maybe it’s time for a little sticky note campaigning of my own in this house.

Time to find a pen and some notes.  Let’s see how this unfolds.