What our efforts will get and give for us
With the Holiday Season upon us, I thought that this
story was more than appropriate for us in the home
based business arena. It allows us to reflect on what
this season is truly all about and what we can do with
our efforts to make this a season to remember.
THE CHRISTMAS ENVELOPE
– Unknown
It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.
It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. Oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it. Overspending — the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma — the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else.
Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended, and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes.
As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them, taking every weight class. As each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly — “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.” Mike loved kids — all kids — and he knew them, having coached Little League football, baseball and lacrosse.
That’s when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.
For each Christmas, I followed the tradition — one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure.
The story doesn’t end there. You see, we lost Mike last year to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope.
Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us. May we all remember the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always.
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When we are successful in this wonderful arena of
internet marketing it allows us to do these kinds of
things that we never dreamed about in the past.
When we were just getting by and working from
paycheck to paycheck, we never dreamed that we
could do creative things like this to “pay back” for
our ability to be successful in this great arena of internet
marketing as a home based business owner.
This is where gratitude begins to come through when
we realize that we can help others that might be less
fortunate in their pursuits. We can truly give back to
a society that have given us the opportunity to succeed
in what ever endeavor we choose. This is where the
opportunity in internet marketing gives us, at least
the chance to succeed, and give back in a way that truly
touches not only our souls but those to whom we can help.
Just think what you can do or are able to do when you have
become successful and are the ones giving back. This is the
true meaning of gratitude. This reminds me of Mr. Stephen
M. Ross, who needed financial help in getting through business
school at the University of Michigan. After his graduation and
some years later he became a very successful real estate developer
in New York City. He then asked his uncle, Max Fisher, who had
helped him with his finances when he was in school, how he could
pay him back. He suggested giving back to something that had
helped him in the past. The rest is history, as Mr. Ross gave
$100 million to the University of Michigan Business School and
the Ross Business School was named in his honor. This is certainly
a true example of giving back. But it also shows that by becoming
successful, he was able to give back.
This is where the meaning of giving back, gives us the opportunity
to feel the true meaning of gratitude. And certainly this gives
us the ability to give back if even on a smaller scale. This is what
success and gratitude allows us to do – on whatever scale you choose –
to give back because you decided you wanted something better in
your life.
Check over to the right area to see if you are ready to become that
successful entrepreneur that can give back because of your success.
Take a peek, under no obligation, to get your ticket to gratitude.
What our efforts will get and give for us
