I am starting a new project and it’s your choice if you want to join or not. This is a project of appreciating the people who made my day better in some way, no matter if I know them or not. I feel that many of us, including me, are not good at appreciating people who make a difference to our lives, people who do something good for society, people around them and so on. There has been many times unknown people has been the reason behind me smile, and I have lately been thinking that I would love to thank them and make them realize the difference they make in other people’s lives. That’s the reason behind this project.
Last week I went to a group-training session at the student gym. After attending the group session, I as usual, went to the wardrobe to change my clothes. When opening the cabinet where I had my belongings, a Muslim girl came and opened the cabinet right beside mine. I didn’t know her. However, she started talking to me. She had forgotten the “ticket” you have to show when you attend a group session – to prove that you have signed up for that session. She was joking around that she had to prove her existence and that ticket was in her cabinet. Actually, I don’t remember completely what she said, but she made me laugh and I wished her good luck for her group session. Five minutes after she left, she came back again and conveyed that she brought her bank card instead of the ticket. She continued joking that this was probably a sign from God. When she left, I noticed that I felt happy.
A sudden desire arouse that moment. I wanted to thank her. I didn’t know what to do with that desire. Then an idea came up in my mind – what about placing a sticky note on her cabinet telling her how wonderful she is? However, when I looked into my bag, I didn’t find any sticky note and I left the place without letting her know the impact she made on me. That day I sent a message to mum, asking her if she could bring some sticky notes from her workplace as an idea was gradually taking form in my mind.
I decided that I wanted to write a sticky note to those people who made an impact on me and give it to them. When I took the ferry yesterday, however, I saw again two small kids giving each other hugs while they were laughing with excitement. I also saw a young girl hugging another passenger’s dog with a lot of affection. All these three people made me smile and had an positive impact on me, and this time I even had sticky notes in my bag. However, thoughts like “What will the parents think if I give something like this?” “This is not normal here in Norway”, made me stay aback.
When I conveyed my idea to my father that day and asked him if this would look weird, he said that even if it looks weird, you are not doing any harm to anyone. You are not criticizing them, you are giving them a compliment. So what if it’s not usual? If your intention is good, then give it a try. To make a change, someone has to start. That’s when I decided that I am going to try this new project. I don’t know where this will lead me to, but I want to leave behind me sparkles of gratitude and appreciation – I want people to know that they are appreciated, that they make a difference to other people around them.
You want to join? Let’s together make an effort to appreciate those people who makes a difference to our lives or other people’s lives. There is much hate in this world and in media, but there is a lot of love too. WE have the power to spread more love and make this world a better place to live in. You know what? We can also make statistics of this to show how much love there is in this world. You can by sharing your experiences of this project by commenting on this post
