101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit by Jack Canfield

Author:Jack Canfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
ISBN: 9780757397554
Publisher: Health Communications, Inc.
Published: 2010-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

There Are No Vans

I remember one Thanksgiving when our family had no money and no food, and someone came knocking on our door. A man was standing there with a huge box of food, a giant turkey and even some pans to cook it in. I couldn’t believe it. My dad demanded, “Who are you? Where are you from?”

The stranger announced, “I’m here because a friend of yours knows you’re in need and that you wouldn’t accept direct help, so I’ve brought this for you. Have a great Thanksgiving.”

My father said, “No, no, we can’t accept this.” The stranger replied “You don’t have a choice,” closed the door and left.

Obviously that experience had a profound impact on my life. I promised myself that someday I would do well enough financially so that I could do the same thing for other people. By the time I was 18 I had created my Thanksgiving ritual. I like to do things spontaneously, so I would go out shopping and buy enough food for one or two families. Then I would dress like a delivery boy, go to the poorest neighborhood and just knock on a door. I always included a note that explained my Thanksgiving experience as a kid. The note concluded, “All that I ask in return is that you take good enough care of yourself so that someday you can do the same thing for someone else.” I have received more from this annual ritual than I have from any amount of money I’ve ever earned.

Several years ago I was in New York City with my new wife during Thanksgiving. She was sad because we were not with our family. Normally she would be home decorating the house for Christmas, but we were stuck here in a hotel room.

I said, “Honey, look, why don’t we decorate some lives today instead of some old trees?” When I told her what I always do on Thanksgiving, she got excited. I said, “Let’s go someplace where we can really appreciate who we are, what we are capable of and what we can really give. Let’s go to Harlem!” She and several of my business partners who were with us weren’t really enthusiastic about the idea. I urged them: “C’mon, let’s go to Harlem and feed some people in need. We won’t be the people who are giving it because that would be insulting. We’ll just be the delivery people. We’ll go buy enough food for six or seven families for 30 days. We’ve got enough. Let’s just go do it! That’s what Thanksgiving really is: Giving good thanks, not eating turkey. C’mon. Let’s go do it!”

Because I had to do a radio interview first, I asked my partners to get us started by getting a van. When I returned from the interview, they said “We just can’t do it. There are no vans in all of New York. The rent-a-car places are all out of vans. They’re just not available.”

I said, “Look, the bottom line is that if we want something, we can make it happen! All we have to do is take action.

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