My daughter is very organized, and she’s also an 11 year old who plays and makes messes and leaves them. She’s always had a desire to be mindfully organized with her space and when she decides to ‘clean house’ she goes through every nock and cranny of her room, and sometimes other rooms in the house.
One night, after a recent cleaning spree of her bedroom (without being asked to), she laid out her fleecy blanket perfectly on her bed while I got cozy under her duvet to read to her, she stopped me and said she has to do one more thing. I took a deep breath and asked her asked her what does she NEEDED to do right now? I just wanted her to settle and cuddle in next to me.
She picked up a piece of paper and searched for the perfect colour pen and said that she needed to write a note to herself and hide it in a place she knows she won’t clean for a long time. She wanted to surprise and remind herself of something important.
Her note said;
“You’re so beautiful, sweet, kind, AMAZING.
Future self – keep room clean”
and it ended with her stating her current crush, as a reminder (cause it changes:)
She placed it under her bed, deep in a corner with one of her bins she rarely accesses.
I sat there, amazed by her. Wondering why I don’t do that. Leave myself love notes, reminding me of what I need to be reminded of and where my heart was focused on at the time. Thinking about how brilliant that was, and she just came up with it, not because she struggles with a negative inner dialogue, but because she intuitively knows that tending to herself in loving ways is healthy.
I leave all of us with this small task today, leave a note for your future self. Don’t overthink this, just write something down and place it somewhere you can find by surprise.
xo,
Noelle