Last night I had the chance to reflect on the power of words. I don’t think we realize just how profound an effect our words-positive OR negative-can have on a person. Several years ago I was working in an elementary school. It was a job I loved! One year I was working with 2 different classes, and a family had a sibling in each of the classes. At Christmastime, the family gave me a really lovely gift. Of course I wrote a thank you note to the family expressing my gratitude. Last year the mother ran into me and we stopped to chat. She asked me if I remembered the thank you note I sent. I told her that I remembered sending it…lol. She then went on to tell me that the note not only thanked them for the gift, but it told how nice her children were and what a great family they must come from and how proud she and her husband must be. She then told me that she and her husband saved that thank you note and taped it to the refrigerator and anytime they feel stressed out over their children and how they may be acting…they reread that note. She said it reminds them that they DO have great kids…and that ultimately that matters more than having an “off day”. The mother told me that even when they had to buy a new refrigerator, they saved the note and taped it up on the new one. She couldn’t thank me enough for helping her to see her kids through someone else’s eyes.
As you can imagine, I was stunned. I have always written thank you notes to families and I always find something positive to say. Personally I love hearing positive things about my own kids, and who wouldn’t? I never imagined that one thank you note would mean so much to someone. The beauty of this conversation for me was in the timing. I was at a place in life where I was wondering what my purpose was and I was feeling hugely insignificant. This conversation showed me, that even the simplest of words could have a huge impact. I also learned that we never know just how important something we say or do is or will be to someone else. That no action or thought, no matter how small,is without reaction.
I have realized that even a simple smile at a harried cashier, a pat on the back to a child, a smile or encouraging word to a spouse, employee, neighbor can ripple through their lives without us even realizing the full impact we are having. Perhaps if we all tried to do or give just one small kind gesture or word a day, we might in turn help someone in ways we can’t even begin to imagine. And truly, when we make someone else feel good, it usually comes right back to us anyway!
treasaesposito 