By Anna Akopyan • Published: 21 Sep 2024 • 17:43 • 3 minutes read
Smile bracelet Credit: The Bead Shop, Facebook
A woman in Scotland has been leaving handmade bracelets with positive affirmations across Glasgow, spreading smiles through her neighbours, unused to hearing compliments from strangers.
“I am enough: Radiate Positivity,” is what a Glasgow resident found written on a charming handmade bracelet at the most unexpected time and place. Social media has been filled with locals sharing the bracelets they had come across, spreading smiles on people unused to flattery from strangers.
Beth McNeill, an educational worker in Glasgow was behind the kind initiative; “It´s infectious really, making someone happy in turns makes you happy. I think more than ever we need the little things in life to put a smile on our face,” she said to the Press. She also confessed that she she has been a “Swifty,” for a long time, and has made at least 70 of the bracelets for the Wembly Leg of Taylor Swift´s Eras tour, where fans exchange the accessory to form new friendships and charge with the pre-concert excitement.
“We never know what someone is going through, if my bracelet puts a smile on someone´s face who is having a tough time or not it´s a win for me,” said McNeill about the power of positivity. “I like to be that cheerleader for my students. I came up with the idea that if I can put these affirmations on bracelets it can be a lovely reminder on your wrist how wonderful a person you are, that you aren´t your anxiety, you can get through the day.”
The internet has been exploding with the friendship bracelet trend, leading to a complete sell-out of beads in Australian stores. Owned by practically every teenage girl, friendship bracelets began their popularity in the 1990s and early 2000s but have now been revived, bringing back the best possible trend; one rooted in community and kindness.
“So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste,” said Swift in one of her Midnight tracks, You´re on Your Own, Kid. Pre- and post-concert, crowds of brightly colour Swifties can be spotted, swapping bracelets with typically “Swift-like,” aesthetics, colours, song titles, and lyrics. As the fans exchange the accessory, they make friends with people from all points of the world, who wouldn´t have met if it wasn´t for their love of the inspiring pop star.
Not tied to any particular format, affirmations can enrich our lives and help us take control of our future; self-fulfilling prophecies, positive affirmations can play a key role in finding your ultimate well-being. It may seem naive in the beginning but the power of affirmations cannot be denied, used by therapists and social workers across the world.
Working like a magic spell, the affirmations play with the power of thought, helping to break cycles of overwhelming anxiety and be in charge of your headspace. One of the theories about affirmations by Claude Steele from the 1980s argued that the process of self-affirmation is activated by negative information which makes us question our value.
Explanation, rationalization, and action are what the affirmations are made of, touching our past, present, and future. With visualisations, our minds can help us move in the right direction and scrap out limiting beliefs. “I am happy,” “I am healthy,” “I am loved,” are just a few of the examples of powerful affirmations which can help us develop a healthier mind.
Whether spelled out on bracelets, recorded on voice memos, or noted in a diary, positive affirmations, if used regularly, will transform our perception of ourselves and get closer to happiness. Think it and say it to yourself and others; “I am happy, I am healthy, I am loved.”
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From Moscow to Costa Blanca, Anna has spent over 10 years in Spain and one year in Berlin, where she worked as an actress and singer. Covering European news, Anna´s biggest passions are writing and travelling.
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