3320: How to Become Beautiful in One Simple Step by Dr. Kelly Flanagan on Compassion

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Living Daily, How to Become Beautiful in One Simple Step by Dr. Kelly Flanagan of Dr.KellyFlanagan.com.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Justin Malik, your very own personal narrator.

[00:00:12] [SPEAKER_00]: I read to you every single day of the year so that you don't have to go find articles yourself, all in an effort to make your and my days just a little bit better.

[00:00:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So with that let's get right to it and continue optimizing your life.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: How to Become Beautiful in One Simple Step by Dr. Kelly Flanagan of Dr.KellyFlanagan.com.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_00]: On January 12, 2010 a devastating earthquake leveled the island nation of Haiti.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_00]: In Haiti it broke buildings and bodies and everything in between.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Around the world it broke hearts.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_00]: And in my neighborhood one family made a decision that's changing the world.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: They decided to tell their six-year-old children about the tragedy.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: They made the gutsy decision to let their children in on the pain of the world.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: They decided to trust the heart of a child.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And they simply resolved to say yes to whatever beauty poured forth.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: One evening after bedtime prayers the kids decided they wanted to rebuild one home for one family in Haiti.

[00:01:22] [SPEAKER_00]: So their parents said yes.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00]: They did research and they found out the cost of building one home in Haiti is $2,500.

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: With fear and trepidation they devised a fundraiser and set out to raise the money.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The money began to trickle in.

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Then it began to pour in.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Then one family offered to match the funds that were raised.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And then a second family offered to do the same.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: In a few short months two kindergartners with hearts of compassion and two parents saying yes

[00:01:54] [SPEAKER_00]: raised $37,500 to build homes in Haiti.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00]: In case you're counting that's 15 Haitian families with a brand new roof over their heads.

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_00]: The beautiful thing about heartstrings.

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_00]: But here's the thing about heartstrings and the beautiful music they play.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_00]: The song of compassion likes to put itself on repeat.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: When hearts break with compassion they don't break apart.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: They break open.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Next the children had their hearts broken open by orphans.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: The parents simply said yes.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And they spent a year raising money for orphans in our hometown.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Tonight orphans in my hometown will be lulled to sleep in rocking chairs purchased by two grade school kids and their parents saying yes.

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And then in the last year the children discovered that for one American dollar a person in Africa could drink clean water for one year.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: One year!

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_00]: This time the family decided to partner with other people who are saying yes.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_00]: They teamed up with Blood Water Mission and its campaign Lemon Aid Stand.

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_00]: In May of 2013 they hosted a stand in their front yard.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: It raised hundreds of dollars.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Hundreds of African men, women and children drinking clean water for a year.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: When we start saying yes to our beautiful hearts we discover our stories have chapters we could never have fathomed.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: The family was then invited to team up with local businesses to host another stand in July 2013.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Then the very next month they were asked by a local Starbucks to host a stand and Starbucks offered to match whatever funds were raised.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It was a joyful event with crafts and baked goods and live music and a local radio station and of course Lemon Aid.

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_00]: The event raised $11,500.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Almost 12,000 people drinking clean water for a year.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I went to the event, a reminder of it sitting in my living room.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: A sign of our beauty.

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_00]: At the Lemon Aid fundraiser there was a table full of hand painted signs created by the family and their friends.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Most of the signs were brightly colored and each sign contained a word to match the vibrant hues.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Words like hope and joy and faith.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: But sitting right in the middle of the table was a sign that looked completely out of place.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_00]: It was small, thin and long.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Instead of bright colors it was covered in a single coat of white paint.

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: The letters were created by exposing the natural surface beneath the paint.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: The letters were formed out of the essence of the wood rather than a bright layer of paint over the natural grain.

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: The letters looked rough and messy, burnt and scratched and worn.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: The letters formed the word beautiful.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I bought that sign.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I bought that sign because I needed to be reminded our true beauty does not come from all the artificial layers of bright glitz and shiny glamour we slather on ourselves.

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Real beauty doesn't come from aisles of makeup or designer jeans or six pack abs or the latest iPhone.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Or pristine lawns or photoshopped Christmas cards.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Real beauty doesn't come from how brightly colored we appear and how loudly we proclaim the right words or ideas.

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Our real beauty is what emerges through all the layers of paint and image we slather on.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Our real beauty is the shape of what emerges when we simply pay attention to who we are,

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_00]: when we behold our tender hearts and the compassion that resides there.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Our real beauty is what happens when we say yes to the grace and the love and the humanity we find lying just beneath the surface of our carefully crafted personas.

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Beautiful you.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, when I sit on the couch and I look at that sign, I'm reminded of a family who's becoming more who they already are.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Five brilliant souls with a heart for creating beauty, order and abundance in this world.

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_00]: They aren't different than you or me. They aren't better than the rest of us.

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: They are scratched and worn and messy like everyone else, but they've found the shape of their beauty within that, and they're simply saying yes to it.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: So should you start a lemonade stand? No, not necessarily. Lemonade has been the shape of their beauty.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_00]: But they're not you. Only you are you.

[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Only you contain the shape of your beauty beneath all the bright, distracting paint.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Only you can allow the natural grain of who you are to emerge.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Only you can be beautiful you.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: The question is, are you ready to say yes to your beautiful?

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_00]: You just listened to the post titled, How To Become Beautiful In One Simple Step by Dr. Kelly Flanagan of Dr. KellyFlanagan.com.

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you to Dr. Kelly. The impact of building 15 homes in Haiti is huge, not to mention a dollar for a year of water. That's mind-blowing.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Also mind-blowing that it was the kids that thought of this. Well, maybe not that mind-blowing, just powerful really.

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Like he said, it doesn't mean we have to go out and start a lemonade stand or raise thousands of dollars.

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_00]: We all have our own strengths and unique ways of being, our own ways of bringing good into the world.

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's something to really think about today. What shape of beauty we might have?

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_00]: What's that thing inside us that's just waiting for us to say yes to it?

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's giving back, like volunteering. Or maybe it's just calling up an old friend.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Could even be just being a little kinder to ourselves and the people around us.

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_00]: So it gave me a lot to think about. I'm curious if it did for you too.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_00]: You can always let me know what articles hit home with you or that you found moving.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_00]: The best way to get in contact is to just reply to my weekly email newsletter. You can find that and join for free at oldpodcast.com.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_00]: But with that, wishing you a great weekend. Thank you for being here.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll see you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.