Niceties

As I dig through boxes and bags - things I just can't let go of - I often find journals or scraps I have written on to remind me of lovely things that people have done for me or said to me. At some point it would be nice if I could get them all in one place, but getting that organized in the Counterman household is not something I can even imagine happening. I try to console myself that many great thinkers are/were not very organized, but if you ask me for a name, I could not produce one. If I remember correctly, Einstein had a hard time tying his shoes and could get lost walking around the block, but I don't know that his actual organizational skills were lacking. {do any of you know?} I realize that this might make you wonder if we qualify for that show Hoarders, but I can assure you that we are nowhere close to being that bad. We can see all of our floors and although the house is not "company clean" right now, I would not be embarrassed by it if you showed up to visit today.

{coming back from tangent}

Anyway... these "niceties", as I call them, can often be reminders that people are praying for me. Other times they can be things that I don't believe about myself. I write them down to remind me that someone believes it. I thought of commenting in this space about how wrong some of these people were, but I decided that the world is harsh enough without me battering myself with negative thoughts. So, just for the sake of posterity (although I have no progeny of my very own), I thought I would share some of my niceties here. The following niceties are a few that I wrote down in a journal that used to sit on my desk at work.

July 12, 2004 - First day - UWCB (United Way of the Coastal Bend). Mom thinks I have quick wit and a lovely smile. I don't remember ever hearing that from her before.

7-13-04 Miss Scarlett is praying for me to avoid temptation & to not bow to pressure when I really know the right thing to do {I have no recollection of what those temptations were at that point}

7-14-04 David Powell is praying for me so that I won't have to see others as less that I would feel like more. {still praying that, Dave?}

9/1/04 Rachel Heinbuch, one of the Loaned Executives, told me that she remembers the first time she saw me and how beautiful & striking I was.

3/14/06 - Amparo said that I look like a model.

Although I don't have them in front of me right now so that I can quote them exactly, I can tell you that I have a few niceties hanging in front of my desk at work. One of them is from a client satisfaction survey where the client wrote that I may have saved his/her life with my actions. Another nicety is a little pocket card from Janna saying that she will always believe in me. There is also a photo of me receiving the Lifesaver Award for using the Heimlich Maneuver on my boss when he was choking (I was brand new at that job and I told him afterwards that I did not consider that a good staff bonding experience).

Now that I think about it - I might not want to get all my niceties in one place. It is a pleasant surprise when I come across them while looking for something else. It's like I've left little treasures for myself all over the house. 

The best cheerleader I have ever had and a nicety in herself, my Mama.

Do you hold on to niceties? Do you keep reminders that those around you see you in a positive light?