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| PAPER PLANES IN FLIGHT...READY, SET, GO! |
Well, I know you are probably wondering about the title of my post, but I could not come up with a better one to share with you. It was the best I could have come up with at the time.
Words do fly, and let me prove it to you...
The last few weeks I was in a training workshop and one of the activities I chose to do with my participants is to let them make paper planes. You know the ones we use to create when we were kids. Now, it is pretty funny and nearly impossible to convince and lead a group of grown adults in the making of a little paper plane but my class went along with me on the adventure.
We folded our papers and made our wings, some more perfectly than others but they managed to get through the exercise. The next step was to write their names on one side of a wing and something positive about themselves, using adjectives that were affirming not negative. They were also told to write on the other wing a generic inspirational, message or note that would be uplifting to someone and then we all closed our eyes and at the count of three, released our paper planes and they took flight with our words.
The next step was crucial they were to pick up one of those planes that flew (not their original one) that landed somewhere in the room and we went around the room reading the notes from our planes.
The exercise allowed the participants to hear words firstly about themselves, who they are, words of value and inspirational and then the notes that were written in generic form was written as an encouragement to someone else...the person that picked up that plane.
The truth about the exercise was, I just wanted people to start their day on a positive note but the reality of it was, that we as individuals, need to be the first positive voice we hear in the mornings. We need to speak life and strength to ourselves first and uplift us, before we go out into our day. The truth is, many of us never take the time to speak words of affirmation to our own selves.
There were many persons who participated in the exercise, suddenly realising they spend very little time building themselves up.
However, it did not end there, the second task was to build someone else up. Spread the light and love that you receive to start your day by sharing it with others, whether it would be your spouse, children, and in the case of my training class...their co-workers or staff.
The exercise struck a chord, as persons shared, I don't know when was the last time, I spoke something positive to myself and or the last time I shared an encouraging words to someone else at my job.
To let you know, this exercise also positively impacted me as now, I am sure to put it into practice in my life. So I pledge, every now and then to build me a paper plane and send it along its way, with wings filled with words of affirmation and inspiration.
So words do fly, the most perfect of them can be attached to an imperfectly made paper plane that just may happen to brighten up someone's day.
Unveiled to Be Transformed
-Keisha
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