Your Real Life Starstuff Efforts

Stars Over Water

I was never fond of Disney’s Peter Pan so I wasn’t excited when my book club picked Peter and the Starcatchers, but I try to read all of our book club books because I gain and learn new things by reading something different than I normally would.  Besides, it is written by Dave Barry and I liked his book, Science Fair, which made our family laugh as we drove across the United States one summer.

I found I did like Peter and the Starcatchers better.  There are little bits of humor that run through it that made me smile.  It was also fun to see where Peter might have come from before he was Peter Pan.

Glitter for Starstuff Post

There was also something about the “starstuff”, otherwise known as pixy dust in the movie, that I kept thinking about.  In my mind, I pictured the very fine, sparkly dust that I think many of us do, but in the book, it has more of an air of mystery to it, which gives it more depth.

This morning when I worked out with my trainer, Jai, I asked her if it always took a long time for people to see changes in how their bodies work.  I was frustrated with what was going on with my body. There are times I feel great about how I am moving or what I am lifting or bending, but the very next day I will be slammed with a sore elbow, a twisted ankle, or a shoulder that doesn’t want to move.  Sometimes I feel like I am worse than where I started!    In fact the last couple of months, I have had more aches and pains than at any other time in my life.

Chronic Pain Points

I just keep trying to tell myself that it is ok.  That at least I’m not really sliding backward, right?

Afterward, another of Jai’s clients came over for her session.  She told me she didn’t want to make me feel weird – she didn’t watch people as they worked out, but she had noticed that I was exercising much better than months back.  That she could see the change in what I was able to accomplish on the gym floor.  I thanked her quietly and then left her to her session while I went back to the lockers.

I had to come back to her though and ask, “Did you hear what I was saying to Jai earlier?”

She hadn’t.  She didn’t know what I was talking about, but I was starting to tear up so I asked Jai to tell her while she worked out, because I was going to cry.

It was just the little something that I needed when I didn’t even know I needed it!  I’m sure she had no idea of that though. She didn’t know I had been feeling that way.  She was just sharing something positive about me that she had noticed.

So going back to Peter and the Starcatchers.  When you hold containers (trunks, gold boxes, and lockets) of starstuff, it makes you feel really good and happy.  It also makes you fly.

Unfortunately,  there are problems with starstuff.  You can have fatal doses of it and it has magical properties that change you in ways that are not so great.  It can also stop you from growing older – or in other words it can stunt your growth.

Woman SmilingIt’s not the same with real-life starstuff.

Real-life starstuff is what Jai’s other client used when she shared the positive changes she had seen in me.  It’s how someone smiling at you can make you feel like you matter.  It’s the relief that comes when someone brings you dinner while you are in the middle of a kitchen renovation. It is sitting quietly with a friend whose loved one just passed away.

It reminds me of a quote by Spencer W. Kimball:

God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually   through another person that he meets our needs.” 

Maybe some of the time when we spread starstuff, we are even answering prayers.

There is no  “unfortunately” with real-life starstuff.  When you use it to make someone else fly it doesn’t stunt your growth.  In fact, it makes you grow taller and stronger.   The sparkly smile you give someone helps them feel love but also grows that love inside of you.

Woman Holding Heart

You may not think you have that glistening dust inside of you, but we all do.  Sometimes it just takes a moment to look around you and say something positive or fill a need then the shimmer grows in you and starts to lift you.  Take a chance and see what magic can happen when use some of your starstuff on someone else.

If someone has sprinkled their real-life starstuff on you please share this post and let them know what their starstuff meant to you.  Sometimes letting others know the difference they have made in your life is the sprinkle they need.