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I was in grade school when I started leaving anonymous notes for people telling them to have a good day. I tucked them inside random pages of books at the library and stuffed them in lockers. As I got older, I started taping uplifting notes on poles and tossing them in people’s bags when they looked the other way.
Occasionally, my notes were accompanied by a random trinket: a plastic army man, a troll, a gnome, or something else equally ridiculous. The point was to get people to stop for a moment and be present with life.
I never stuck around long enough to witness people’s reactions at the library, but I got plenty of calls from friends who found a note in their bag. It was fun to see how long it took them to find it.
Making people feel good a great way to keep unconditional love alive in the world. Nobody expects to find treasures in their bag, or happy notes stuffed under their pillow.
Disrupt the industry of the mundane life.
Even if you don’t have a mundane 9-5 schedule, many people do. While the millennial kids are off disrupting the tech scene, you can disrupt the monotony of someone’s 9-5 life with a simple act that uplifts and inspires them. Here are some ideas inspired by things I’ve done:
- Create a few of these mini notebooks. Write short inspirational messages throughout the pages and hang them from random trees using a keychain. It’s possible that one of the trees might collect more inspirational messages from others. I’ve seen it happen!
- Use Smilebox to create custom invitations that formally invite people to love themselves, to be happy, and to be grateful for life. Pass them out whenever possible. Leave them in public places, and stick them in books at the bookstore.
- When you stay at someone’s house, leave notes of appreciation in various places. Stick one in the refrigerator or under their pillow. They might find one of your notes quickly, so give them something to find later on when they’ll least expect it.
- Get some of these inspirational word bands and make keychains out of them. Some of the best quotes include: “dream as if you’ll live forever,” “possibility begins with imagination,” and “enjoy the journey.”Hand them out to people you meet while walking down the street. Put them in tip jars at coffee shops. Drop one in your neighbor’s mailbox and slip the others into people’s bags when they’re not looking.
- Grab a blank notebook or journal and fill the first few pages with an interesting story about your life. Be real, and share something deeply intimate. Then give the notebook to someone else to write something and pass it on. People are inspired by honesty, and the fact that it’s anonymous makes it even better.
People feel good when they receive random notes because there’s no price tag or feeling of debt attached to it. It’s a gift freely given from one person to another, something rarely experienced in today’s world.
Transforming the world means transforming relationships.
Everyone says they want to transform the world, but few know what that requires. What constitutes “the world” out there isn’t just a bunch of people, but our relationships with those people. Transforming the world requires transforming our relationships.
The more we connect with others unconditionally – without an agenda – the more space we create for love to arise from those interactions.
Selfless interactions have neither an end goal nor an agenda. Like calling a friend to express your appreciation for who they are. It’s a conversation that can free float in space and go in any direction as long as you want to ride that wave.
This kind of conversation opens the door for depth and intimacy. This is why conversations with some of your friends can last for hours; it’s unconditional!
Actions based on love transform the world.
The key to transforming the world is inspiring people to feel valued for who they are, not for what they do. Give others a direct experience of unconditional love by performing random acts of kindness anonymously, with no desire to be acknowledged or paid back.
This experience is a powerful reminder to people of their own self-worth; they don’t have to do anything to be loved and appreciated for who they are. They don’t have to justify their existence. For even a brief moment, their life will move away from a transactional experience and will become open-ended and free.
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Photo: Getty Images