Stay Pretty

A couple of about 30 some years of age physically yet mentally younger, came into my place of work.

The woman was wearing a bright purple shirt with big flowers all over it, a purple bracelet that closely resembled a child's fancy, fabric hair tie, purple Crocs and purple socks, a purple necklace, and a purple flowing, veil-like headdress.

As they were leaving and I walked them to the door and thanked them for coming, she turned to me and said with an infectious, child-like enthusiasm and smile, "Stay pretty!  Stay pretty with your pretty necklace and your pretty hair!" 

Coming from someone else this may have seemed so superficial, so worldly and shallow.
It could have even been viewed as a sarcastic mockery (since I wasn't necessarily sporting either).
Yet it was anything but.

In all the sincerity of her heart she was wishing me well, heaping happiness and good fortune upon me.
Wholeheartedly admonishing me and reminding me to embrace and enjoy loving life!  

To stay pretty.

And although her words addressed tangible elements, the real unadulterated message from her was much deeper.
It was her speaking "Stay Pretty" to my heart.
To stay pretty from the inside out, so much so that it would be evident by the energetic, spirit filled glow that would radiate around me.
Something she had obviously learned to do and by her pure example was living as part of her daily life.

I vow to try to not disappoint and to do my best to "stay pretty"!


"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart."  ~Kahlil Gibran

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
 

Sometimes I Am Nice, Sometimes I Am Stupid

Those are the words that came out of the mouth of a three year old girl I was nannying for.

She said it so matter-of-fact.
Just as she might say, "Sometimes I like red and sometimes I like blue." 


There was no sense of uneasiness or degradation.
Just a statement of what she thought.

Perhaps she was just repeating words, not fully understanding, but in that moment she was wise beyond her years.

She was teaching by example.

I too can sometimes be nice and sometimes I can do stupid things.

But unlike her I handle it differently.


Usually if I do something nice I do not acknowledge it. 
I am not talking in a prideful way, but I do not recognize it at all.
I downplay it, as,"Oh, it was nothing".
And I would not find myself using the word 'nice' to describe myself.
It would seem too self-centered, too selfish.

But is it really?
Why is it so hard to state a fact and  just leave it at that?


And sometimes I do do stupid things.
Defined as: foolish; senseless.
And boy do I acknowledge that.
Every bit of it.
I might even bring up past events just in case I may have any doubts or have forgotten.
It would seem too self-centered, too selfish not to.


But is it really?
Why is it so hard to state a fact and  just leave it at that?


Sometimes I am learned and sometimes I am still learning.

"The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind."  ~Kahlil Gibran

"Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are."  ~Malcolm S. Forbes