Have you ever found yourself inspired in a most unlikely way?
Recently, this happened to me. The source of my inspiration? An overused phrase on the front of a 5-T crew cut.
Yes, you read that correctly. I found inspiration from a particle of children’s clothing.
Here’s what happened. A few Fridays ago, I opened our front door to find a giant bag on the porch. A sweet friend had dropped off a bunch of clothes her son had outgrown. It was a pleasant surprise at the end of an otherwise tough week.
So, that evening, I mindlessly unloaded the bag, sorted the piles, and folded the clothes. I found that my mind kept dwelling on some tough moments from the school week. My spirit was stirred (and, not in a good way). Just then, I noticed a phrase repeated on multiple shirts — “positive vibes ahead.” I stopped to think, do I really believe that?
On that Friday evening, the light that was shining brightly in my heart at the beginning of the school year had begun to fade. But a little inspiration from a kid’s t-shirt got me thinking about how to re-light the flame of positivity within myself.
I woke up that Saturday morning with the same thought in my head. Are there positive vibes ahead? If I were to be honest then and now, I’m not sure. I can’t bank on positive things coming at me day-by-day in the midst of a crazy week at school. But, what I can bank on, is my ability to make positive things happen. I set forth that Saturday morning (and each one since), to send positive vibes out into my little corner of the world.
It takes all of eight minutes and a total of three e-mails. One to a colleague and two to parents. In each note, I recount a positive happening from the week prior plus something I’m grateful for.
I know many people who are good at this sort of the thing on the daily. I admire these folks. For me, recounting good things on a Saturday morning has become my North Star. I just keep following it week after week, letting it lead me where it may. And in doing so, I end up spreading a little light and a few positive vibes along the way.