Diary of a Real Girl

Okay, so I am a big fan of Operation Beautiful.

Even though I don’t blog about it, I have left many a sticky note around my city and I have seen the effects other people’s notes have had on people (right Angie???).

I get the idea of an anonymous note left to brighten someone’s day…but while it sends a beautiful message, it seems a little impersonal to me (sorry! Though I HAVE witnessed a few beautiful messages!).

Some people don’t take compliments. Plain and simple. They can look at a sign that says “YOU are beautiful” and think “well, maybe everyone but me”.

I definitely am not saying anything bad about Operation Beautiful…I am just, sort of, encouraging everyone to maybe step it up a notch.
Everybody loves a compliment. Even if they don’t know how to accept one (I am terrible, what do you say??).

But say you are having a bad hair day (which honestly, even if you aren’t a vain person, that can throw your day off!) and you go into the coffee shop and the barista says “Wow, I love your hair”, I wouldn’t believe you if you said you didn’t leave that coffee shop with a little more spring in your step!

I try to make a conscious effort to point out things I like about a person, even if it’s a random strangers, whether it’s their top, their shoes, their smile, their hair, WHATEVER, I like to pay a person a compliment. Not because it makes ME feel better or that I want a compliment in return (which is just awkward right?) but because I know how I feel if someone says something like that to me!

For instance, I was flying to Halifax last week – anyone who knows me in real life or has traveled with me knows how much I DESPISE flying!!! Anyway, I was a little nervous for the flight and we had just taken off. The stewardess came by for drinks and when she stopped at me she said – “I have something really weird to say and I don’t know if you are going to get creeped out by it or not, but I am going to say it” (wow, what a way to start a sentence!! I was a little scared!!!) she followed with “I absolutely love your skin”. It came out of nowhere (and frankly I was feeling a bit rough and dry in the facial area from being on a plane) but it made me get the warm fuzzies. I thanked her for the compliment and when she said “you probably get that all the time” I said “no but thank you” (I have gotten that compliment before, but I don’t think you should ever say that, or act like “I KNOW” about it).

In fact, while I was in Halifax, I went for breakfast with Amy and Lynn to Cora’s. Amy told the waitress that she had gorgeous eyes, and I was a little taken aback when she replied with someone along the lines of “oh yeah, I get that all the time”.

It’s kind of like holding the door for a person, sometimes they will say thank you, other times they will walk on through like it was owed to them…but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. I am not saying that you need to walk around singing about sunshine and rainbows and tell everyone that they are perfect just the way God made them…but maybe a little comment about their killer boots every once in a while might do the trick!!!

****Edit: I am just going to add at the end, that PLEASE know I am not saying ANYTHING bad against Operation Beautiful. I just would like to see some people take the extra step. I am a BIG fan of OB and a huge supporter of it!!!