Encouragement

Am I the only one who keeps certain things around me just because they are encouraging? What's that you say? Oh, funny, I thought not. I know you do it too.
Here's part of my fun collection.

* There's an e-mail that I keep at the front of my inbox after I am done filing and deleting. Its title is "al' ittle love", and its an e-mail from my 10 year old brother telling me how to use emoticons on g-mail. I don't even have to open it to be encouraged. Just the title alone reminds me that I am loved, (and respected) by a 10 year old boy.
* I got a flip calendar from my sister-in-law as part of a gift for being a bridesmaid in her wedding. It has all kinds of little sayings on it. I try to flip it every day to see if there is anything encouraging. Sometimes there isn't, but I usually check anyway. She also gave me a little book about being God's Princess. I can't tell you how many times I flip that book open to the next page and almost cry from reading the promises and love that my God has for me.
* Behind my hp scanner/printer combo (which REALLY comes in handy for school) hangs a map of Kampala city (generated interestingly enough from copies made on said hp from the back of the map of Uganda that hangs above my coat rack!). Looking at that map reminds me of the places and faces I need to pray for. But its also encouraging, because that place holds a promise of God for my life. :) Actually if you look around my room... above my bed is a shelf with a sign that says "P-R-A-Y" flanked by a giraffe and an elephant, above a banana leaf relief of the continent of Africa, a peice of African art, and the verse "Delight yourself in me and I will give you the desires of your heart". Scattered around my room are pictures of my family and friends. People I pray for on a consistent basis, and ones I know pray for me too. What an encouragement!
* This is silly, but in my kitchen the walls are beige... except for one wall. It's red. Brilliant red. I love that one red wall. I think it speaks to my heart and my love of being the rebel and delighting in being different.
* In my car, directly behind the steering wheel is a very faded peice of paper. At one time it was cute and scrapbooky looking... now it is all but unreadable. It looks like this "For to me, to ____ is ______, to _____ is _____". I bet you can guess what the blanks used to say before the colored ink faded in the sun. I put that in my car when I first got it because, for one thing I wanted to consecrate my car to God (I figured if I gave it to Him, He'd take better care of it than me), but also because one of my biggest fears in life was getting in a car accident. In fact I used to have nightmares about being in a moving car and not being able to stop it while I watched in slow motion as me or my little siblings sped head on towards imminent danger! For about a month, every time that I got into that car, I read that verse. Somewhere along the way the truth of it started to sink in. I still read it every once in a while, but the fear of death is gone for me. Now, its just pure encouragement of the hope that I have.

So... can you think of anything that you keep around you just cause its encouraging to your heart? If not... then wow... you need to get a life! And I mean that in the nicest sense.
I actually was thinking about this because one of my New Year's resolutions... (which actually had nothing to do with it being a new physical year... but a new spiritual year)... was to be more encouraging to the people around me. So I was thinking of blessings in my life that I could use to be blessings to others. So far its been absolutely amazing and I am thoroughly being encouraged by encouraging others as well! Sweet returns!