When you’re headed down a dark road and feeling hopeless, sometimes all it takes to get you headed back in the right direction is a little sign—or in this case, a bumper sticker.
Like many who have felt the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 22-year-old university student Brooke Lacey had her own share of issues. After Lacey won her battle against depression, in the hope of helping others, the New Zealand native was inspired to create a batch of 600 signs that read:
“Please don’t take your life today. The world is so much better with you in it. More than you realize, stay.”
Lacey hung laminated versions of the message on bridges and overpasses, and next to railroads and waterways around the capital city of Wellington. She even had the saying inscribed on a bumper sticker.
But the sentiment was the furthest thing from her mind when she found a piece of very unusual correspondence on the windshield of the car she’d parked in the university lot.
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Figuring she was in for a scold over poor parking technique, Lacey was instead gobsmacked to find a handwritten note under the wiper blade that thanked her for saving the writer’s life.
“I left my house with a plan and asked for a sign, any sign, I was doing the right thing when I saw your car in the parking lot,” the note read, as reported by the Daily Mail Australia. “Thank you.”
It took a moment for Lacey’s mind to circle back around to the bumper sticker. “I had these made so long ago, put one on my car and forgot about them, until now,” she tweeted. “I am so glad whoever you are chose to stay today. You never know who needs this reminder.”
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It’s something we should all bear in mind. While the universe may be a random place, for someone in trouble, even the smallest mindful act of kindness can turn out to be the light at the end of the tunnel.
As long as the message is heartfelt, even something as simple as a sign—or a bumper sticker—can save a life.
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you or someone you know needs help in the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, or in case of emergency, dial 988. In Canada, you can call the Canada Suicide Prevention Service at 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645 from 4 p.m. to midnight EST.
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Kindness and caring are way underrated. A life was saved 🙂