Be Careful

Be careful of your thoughts

For your thoughts become your words.

Be careful with your words

For your words become your actions.

Be careful of your actions

For your actions become your habits.

Be careful of your habits

For your habits become your character.

Be careful of your character

For your character becomes your destiny

-author unknown

In perhaps the kindest and most curious leaflet campaign in recent memory, Boothbay Harbor resident John O’Connell has been arming local stores, restaurants and inns with a simple poster entitled, “Be Careful.” The 10 short sentences are part poetry, part life lessons, and serve as a O’Connell’s personal manifesto for a thoughtful existence. 

“There’s really no one specific reason why I did it,” said O’Connell. “It’s just a reminder to people, especially in this day and age where civility has taken a backseat.”

O’Connell was a school administrator for 40 years in Maryland and first encountered the poster in Allegheny County, a hardscrabble part of the state nestled in the Appalachian Mountain range. 

“In 1998 we opened the school year with the poster in every classroom,” he said. “It was meant as a reference point. If a teacher had kids who were fighting in the playground she could use the words as a guide.”

The message was timely and coincided with the Columbine school shooting in 1999 where two high school seniors murdered 12 students and a teacher in Colorado.

“In Allegheny County everyone had guns so we had to use a community effort,” said O”Connell. “I felt like we may have prevented another Columbine which relates to the idea of how  words really do become your actions. Verbal violence becomes actual violence.”

Lured out of Maryland to fulfill a lame duck term as the Wiscasset schools superintendent for two years , O’Connell then embarked on a career in educational consulting until he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in 2007.

“I would use the lessons written on the poster during speeches while consulting,” he said. “So many people would contact me after and want a copy.”

After growing restless in retirement, O”Connell realized the poster and its meaning still had relevance.

“I decided to share it in the community,” he said. “I was thinking maybe it could make a difference to somebody like it did to me.”

While working with the Syracuse, New York school system, 22,000 flyers were distributed throughout the district and became hugely popular with teachers and students. 

“The goal was to have it on every refrigerator in Syracuse,” he said. “People were always asking for them.”

To further spread the gospel, O’Connell has contacted Rotary International in hopes of forming a partnership and also as a lead in to the organization’s 4-Way Test, a nonpartisan, nonsectarian ethical guide for Rotarians to use for their personal and professional relationships. The test asks four basic questions; Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendship? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? O’Connell feels the spirit of “Be Careful” is a natural extension of Rotary’s philosophy.

So far, the organization has declined to give a tacit endorsement, citing concerns of proselytizing, but discussions are ongoing, said O’Connell. His efforts in Boothbay Harbor have been aided by local youth who made the rounds with O'Connell, dropped off the posters and served as liaisons for the campaign. As of July 21, 2,500 had been distributed in the Boothbay Region. While the response has been muted so far, it’s a lesson designed for the long term no matter when or where it’s received. 

“The poster gives people the chance to talk about character,” said O’Connell. “As the old adage goes, character gets caught more than it gets taught.”