{There are pictures in this post!! Keep reading!}
Yesterdays post got quite a bit of attention. Most of it was so sweet and kind. Full of encouragement and gratitude. Most of it reaffirmed my words about how the blogging world has changed my life. However, with the good must come the bad. There was an unnecessary comment left anonymously on yesterdays post. I deleted it because there is no room for hurtful words on my blog and the anonymous writer came back for seconds. I will NOT be made to feel anything less than sparkly when I am in the comfort of my own blog. I am open to constructive criticism; I believe it can help me grow. That does not mean I am open to post bashing.
Unfortunately, because I have no desire to read hate mail, I have turned off anonymous comments. So if you visit me from Facebook or do not have Google friend connect I would still LOVE to hear your thoughts, I just ask that you email or tweet me :)
I feel that if you choose to take your time and energy to be mean, then you can own it and leave your name.
That being said, the negative weighed heavy on my heart last night. I stayed up into the wee hours of the night typing and deleting responses to "anonymous" thru Facebook and then typing and deleting ranting posts and all the while crying because of the frustration that one tiny comment caused me.
I decided instead that I wanted to use this experience to create a positive.
I decided that I would use today to spread kindness where anger and hurt had been last night.
I decided to dedicate this day of kindness to "anonymous" in hopes that in some way their heart can feel love so that maybe they wont feel the need to say things to hurt others.
Where there is one negative you have the potential to see so many positives and that is what I have chosen to do.
So with that, here is what I spent my day doing.
My mission was to make everyone I came in contact with today smile.
First stop: The gas station.
I went inside to get a water bottle and I made a conscious effort to smile at everyone I passed. I held the door open for the folks coming in behind me and said please and thank you to the cashier that helped me. I bought 4 scratcher lottery tickets and went out to pump my gas. I stuck a star shaped sticky note on the ticket and washi taped them to the pumps surrounding mine while my car finished filling up.
Second Stop: Starbucks
Again, smiling;door holding, please and thank you and a gift card purchase. I have bought for the person directly behind me before and it is terrifying to me. So this time I mixed it up a little and as I walked out, I handed the gift card to the last person in line and told them to have a nice day.
Third Stop: The grocery store.
I had a plan in mind that included roses so I stopped and picked up a dozen and also grabbed a second smaller bouquet as well.
Fourth Stop: My Aunts house.
I had to stop off and give my darling cousin the photos I took for her and her boyfriend earlier this week so I gave her the smaller bouquet of flowers and told her to leave them on the counter for her mom. ( My Aunt is one of the most wonderful humans in the world and I love her very much ) I slapped another star sticky to it just to remind her that I love her and think about her all the time :)
Fifth Stop: Doctors Office.
I had a routine "wellness exam" today so I made sure to throw a few little goodies in my purse for the receptionist and the medical assistant and of course my doctor. Those women are always so kind to me.
Sixth stop: The Mall
This is where I wanted to carry out the bulk of my kind acts today. I had a bag of goodies and a bouquet of flowers in my hands and off I went.
After reading this post from Kimmie at Sugar & Dots I purchased quite a few digital print files and made a donation to a sweet family that lost their home and belongings in a house fire. I printed out the photos and taped them to the entrances of the mall so that others can enjoy the print and the message that is on it as well.
The flowers gathered lots of attention, by one person in particular. A lovely woman working at Dillards. She stopped me and asked what the flowers were for. I told her that I just wanted to make a few women's days a little brighter. I went to grab one for her and she said to me
"No, no I was just curious"
to that I responded "I'll tell you what then, trade me. I will give you a flower if you let me take your picture with it for my blog"
She agreed and pulled her co-worker into the photo as well. As I walked away she smiled and said
" Now I will be passing it on"
{I cried as I walked away}
I pulled a few oldies from the archives and filled baggies with quarters and taped them to vending machines thruout the mall.
and I found a lone lottery ticket in my purse while I was in the elevator so I stuck it next to the buttons!
The next one is new for me. As some of you know, I will be opening an Etsy shop this coming week and I decided to take some of the product that I decided not to use and put it on the counter in the bathroom. I am ALWAYS looking for a hairtie so hopefully this helps out a few ladies :)
One of my very dear friends works at the mall and I like to stop by and see her when I am there and lucky for me she was able to break for lunch right when I got there. We drove to one of the best places to eat in Arizona, Wildflower Bread Company and I treated her to lunch.
I also ran into another sweet friend randomly and snapped a picture of this sweet, sleeping Cheeto face.
You are never going to impress everyone. There will always be someone that disagrees with how you operate. You cannot be everything for everyone and that is OK. But please don't stop being you just because of that one person that disagrees because for that one person that doesn't like it there are hundreds that do and those are the folks that deserve your attention and love and time.
Thank you to those of you that left me words of encouragement and love yesterday. Thank you to the sweet friends that I have here on this blog and thank you to the friends that stuck up for me when I was cut down. I love you all and encourage you to spread love to another person. It's pretty awesome!
