Words In A Window

Jodi over at Fun In First has TONS of back-to-school activity ideas posted so hop on over and join the fun.  Here's an idea my family members, students and workshop participants enjoy; happy new year!

Window cards might very well be my favorite pick-me-up. Do you know about these?  From Bliss to Brilliance, from Spirit to Success, from You Can Do It! to You're Incredible!, these little cards with a secret message hidden inside intrigue and inspire me. I first stumbled on them a few years ago when Starbucks marketed them as BLOOM (for adults) and LEAP (for kids) cards. The summer they were discontinued, my sister and I spent an entire day in Chicago going from store to store scooping up the half-priced treasures. Do you know how many Starbucks there are in Chicagoland? My suitcase was packed! What a fun memory that is.
   I love to tuck them into thank-you notes, leave them on the pillow after I've spent the night somewhere, add them to lunch boxes, even put them in a basket in my office for my visitors, big and small, to open with me or take with them. They can also be used as an engaging getting-to-know-you activity; take turns buddy buzzing with a partner about your secret message and what it means to you. When I pitched this idea to my friends at Rising Star Education, they let me help write the inspiring, character-focused messages for the Turbo Booster cards they added to their product line.  You can even make your own using a die-cut shape and a sticker to lift the flap that'll cover the secret message.  
   Yesterday morning, I handed a Practice Kindness card to my sister-in-law on our way out the door after a wonderful week-long vacation stay at their place, my childhood home, on the family farm.  She opened it and read it out loud:  Leave every story better than you found it. I pondered that wise counsel all the way back to Texas. I'd never really thought about it that way, that with every encounter, you enter someone's story. You stay for a spell, then you move on. So much wisdom in one little window. How might these help you live inspired?