3 Simple Words of Encouragement

A message taped on the mirror reassures a friend that she looks beautiful, all the time.

Just a few kind words can spread wonder into someone's day.

My hairdo and I have a complicated relationship. Most mornings I walk out of my apartment, and it looks just fine. But by the time I get to work? It’s a completely different story. My hair will pick up on the slightest hint of humidity in the air. It gets progressively messier throughout the day. Sometimes I glance at it mid-afternoon in the bathroom mirror at work and all I can say is, “Oh, my goodness.” It’s a lost cause! 

Well, last week, I looked into the bathroom mirror at work and started laughing. Not because of my hair. No, my appearance had nothing to do with it. Someone had taped a message on the mirror. One phrase in all caps:   

YOU LOOK FINE.

I hadn’t seen the message earlier in the day. Where had it come from? “Must be a bathroom angel!” I joked to Meg Belviso,  an editor at Angels on Earth,  who also happened to be in the bathroom.

I had my suspicions of who was really responsible for the mirror pep talk, though–Guideposts editor Danielle Lyle. She’s always giving people a confidence boost. She smiled when I questioned her.

“Yeah, that was me!” Danielle confessed. So why had she done it?

“I was just sitting at my desk, and I was thinking about how women suffer from so many insecurities,” she told me. “And I was thinking women who work in the same building as me probably suffer from insecurities and need to be told that they are beautiful. I wanted someone to feel lifted by the message.” 

Read More: What Makes You Happy?

Mission accomplished! Danielle’s message instantly brightened my day. And her random act of kindness proved you don’t have to go to great lengths to spread a little wonder in the world. Sometimes all it takes is three little words. 

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