Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
- Leo Buscaglia


Sunday, August 12, 2012

An Anonymous Gift

     One of my favorite things to do this year has been to send a book to someone who I think would really value it, but to send it as a gift from "an anonymous friend."  There a few different books I've read over the years that I  often like to use as a gift, depending on the circumstances.  Tonight, I had a book sent by Amazon to someone I met in a recent consulting engagement.
     The book I sent was The Aladdin Factor, by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.  It's a great book that highlights just how much is available to each of us, if we only learn to ask.  It also examines some of the reasons people have such difficulty asking for what they want, and gives useful strategies to overcome this hesitancy.  As with other books by these authors, the book mostly uses inspiring anecdotes to share its important lessons.
     The person to whom I sent the book is someone I only met for a short time, but it didn't take long for me to suspect that she would particularly enjoy it, and most importantly, would benefit from its wisdom.  Since she doesn't know me well, I'm fairly certain that she'll have absolutely no idea who the "anonymous friend" was who sent the gift.  It will probably drive her nuts, but perhaps she'll be that much nicer (not to imply that she isn't usually nice) to everyone she comes in contact with in case that person is her anonymous friend.  Wouldn't that be a pretty cool result?!

No comments:

Post a Comment