Most know of Charles Dickens classic tale “A Christmas Carol”.  Yesterday dear friend and professional editor Tom Cantrell offered me a insightful look at a meaningful message that many may have not considered.  I share his story with you now.

A special message nestles among the pages of Charles Dickens’ oft read classic tale, “A Christmas Carol” - a message that most readers miss.

The ghost, Jacob Marley, brings Ebenezer Scrooge to the window and shows him a sobering sight:  ”The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, moaning as they went.  Every one of them wore chains like Marley’s….  The air was filled with lamentation and regret; wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self accusatory…”

Why were they so miserable?  Was it because they had been “sinners” in life and now must carry their burden of guilt and chains of selfishness forever?  Surprisingly, no.  Dickens says that, “The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere for good in human matters, and had lost the power forever.”

They had died in selfishness and greed.  Now they were doomed to wander to and fro, witnessing all the pain and despair that they had caused or failed to alleviate.  They could have done something about it when they were mortal, but now they were ghosts without physical substance, powerless to alleviate the suffering they witnessed. 

At least that is what they believed; but, through his skillfully crafted story, Dickens delivers an even deeper message. 

The spirits weren’t powerless, they only thought they were.  Marley unwittingly proved them wrong.  He was so focused on helping his self-centered and deeply sad friend, Ebenezer, that he broke through his limiting belief in his own powerlessness and rescued Scrooge from his prison of selfish greed.  Without fully realizing what he had done, Jacob Marley blessed both their lives - and the lives of all whom Scrooge served from that day forth.

What of the other spirits that wailed mournfully through the night?  What chained them?  Ghostly chains - that is all.  Their fetters were weightless - without substance.  It was only their belief that they could do nothing that held the spirits powerless.  After all, weren’t the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future also spirits?  And didn’t they - like Marley - interfere for good in the life of Ebenezer Scrooge?

As it is with them, so it is with us.  Whether spirit or mortal, we are more powerful than we realize.  ”God bless(es) us every one” with opportunities to change the world.  We are limited only by our belief that such opportunities are limited.  Look about you.  Is there someone who needs a smile or an encouraging word?  Is there a friend you haven’t spoken to for a while or thanked for how they show up in your life?  Have you felt impressed to pause in your busy day and do something kind that you really don’t have time to do?  Where does that impression come from?  Perhaps it comes from a restless wandering phantom who is finally breaking the ghostly chains of self-limiting beliefs and is interfering for good - through you. 

Let us “honor Christmas in our heart and try to keep it all the year” and seek always opportunities to interfere for good, even as did the repentant Scrooge.

“God bless us, every one.”  ~  Tom Cantrell

I wish each of you that celebrate Christmas a Most Merry One…and for those of you who don’t… I wish you a SUPERFANTASTIC TOTALL AWESOME DAY!  And to all I wish a Good Night.    ~ Kirk Out

“Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of thyself.”   - Emerson

Some say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”  Others will tell you that, “before you see it, you must believe it.”  I most often find myself in the latter category… I like believing in things, and in people, especially in people.  Most people I have met seem to respond positively to being believed in.  There is something about having faith in people’s ability and potential that seems to inspire them to greater levels of accomplishment and achievement. 

Sadly, it often seems that far too many, have far too few, who believe in them.  And an every increasing number seem to have no real belief in themselves….or in the possibility of much positivity happening in their future. 

Hopelessness, despair, and the spiritually downtrodden need not rule the day.  Today we believe, and today we achieve.  Today I invite you to tell or remind at least one person - that they are worth believing in, that you believe in them, and that in fact you have believed in them for a long time.  Then tell them that your belief in them and their ability to do great & worthy things has been validated many times as you have watched them serve in small but significant ways that have made a positive difference in your life and the lives of others.

I was once taught by a mentor that people become what we say about them.  So I say, we say…. “We believe in them” I suggest that speak of and celebrate their virtues, their strengths and every growing potential.  Believe - the achieve….

Many years ago someone shared this great story with me called  ”I Believe In Santa Claus” Whether you believe or not - it’s a great story.  Enjoy!

I BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS…..how about you?
I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: “There is no Santa Claus,” she jeered. “Even dummies know that!”

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her “world-famous” cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true. Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. “No Santa Claus?” she snorted….”Ridiculous! Don’t believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let’s go.”

“Go? Go where, Grandma?” I asked. I hadn’t even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun. “Where” turned out to be Kerby’s General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything.

As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars, that was a bundle in those days. “Take this money,” she said, “and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for you in the car.” Then she turned and walked out of Kerby’s.

I was only eight years old. I’d often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby  Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock’s grade-two class.

Bobby Decker didn’t have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn’t have a cough; he didn’t have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

“Is this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. “Yes, ma’am,” I replied shyly. “It’s for Bobby.”

The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn’t get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, “To Bobby, From Santa Claus” on it.

Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker’s house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa’s helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby’s house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. “All right, Santa Claus,” she whispered, “get going.”

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven’t dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker’s bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were — ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.

May you always have LOVE to share, HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care…

And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!

Hey, I believe  :)   KIRK OUT

“It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste”.  ~ Henry Ford

Grateful, Humble, and Hopeful

Yesterday a few subscribers took exception to the T4D, or at least had a different viewpoint and shared it. I want to thank them for doing so.

I have sent more than a few T4D’s out without considering “every point of view”  - I have never sent any out hoping to persuade or convert or especially to hurt anyone.   Still I have managed to do or at least be accused of doing all of those things.

Then I feel awful and retreat back into sending out the relatively sterile motivational quotes that you can get on a thousand websites and subscription lists.  Then after a while I get itchy to laugh, cry, rant, rave and mix things up a bit — get people thinking(mostly myself) …and the cycle repeats itself.

Along the way - I continue to learn a lot and every time I do my gratitude increases as I realize how patient people are with me.  And I get humble as my awareness increases at how amazingly little I really know and understand about things, about people and about life.

Then I get hopeful - because I am still alive, I am still in love, and I can still keep growing and going.  It is a never ending struggle and adventure to become better than I am - as I strive to become all that I can. 

May I be granted the wisdom and the patience to allow others the same space and grace as I have received.

Kirk Out

Season’s Greetings  -  Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all; and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures, and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or choice of computer platform of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms:  This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Ever wonder why you get catalogs this time of year from retailers selling items bought almost exclusively by Christmas Shoppers in celebration of Christmas…but the catalogs are too politically correct to call themselves Christmas Catalogs?  Instead they opt for the “Holiday Label” in hopes of not offending people who may not celebrate Christmas.  Someone shared this great piece by Stuart Shepard that I thought was just brilliant.  View it by clicking HERE  or http://www.citizenlink.org/Stoplight/A000005834.cfm

I can’t think of a time that I or anyone I have ever known has been offended by the holidays of anyone else.  I can think of a couple of times that I wished they turned their music down, but that was an issue of consideration, not offense.   I have always like the quote from Brigham Young -

 “He who is offended when offense is not intended, is a fool; he who is offended when offense is intended, is a greater fool.”

Enjoy the clip from Stuart Shepard and if you haven’t yet checked out my friend Richard Holdman’s Wonderful Christmas Light Display Click here.  Also please let’s help his family win the KFC contest.  http://www.kfc.com/fanatics/vote.htm

Merry Happy Holidays

Kirk out

Steve, a T4D subscriber sends a link to a blogger from the great “Down Under” of Australia.  The blog titled “Freaked Out Fathers” lists some “pretty weird” Christmas gifts.  While the gifts and commentary are clever and fun…. nothing there is valuable as this quote below from Seth Godin (also pulled from Steve’s e-mail).  Links to Blog follow the AMAZING quote.

We still live in a world that’s filled with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity — we have an obligation. An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing.  Seth Godin 

My favorite post are Second, Third and 5th Days of Christmas

• 3rd Day   Weird Gifts

• 5th Day   More Weird Gifts

• 2nd Day  - Save the world from the Shopocalypse

http://www.freakedoutfathers.com/2007/12/16/on-the-5th-day-of-christmas-more-wierd-gifts/ is the URL

Kirk Out

Steve, a T4D subscriber sends a link to a blogger from the great “Down Under” of Australia.  The blog titled “Freaked Out Fathers” lists some “pretty weird” Christmas gifts.  While the gifts and commentary are clever and fun…. nothing there is valuable as this quote below from Seth Godin (also pulled from Steve’s e-mail).  Links to Blog follow the AMAZING quote.

We still live in a world that’s filled with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity — we have an obligation. An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing.  Seth Godin 

My favorite post are Second, Third and 5th Days of Christmas

• 3rd Day   Weird Gifts

• 5th Day   More Weird Gifts

• 2nd Day  - Save the world from the Shopocalypse

http://www.freakedoutfathers.com/2007/12/16/on-the-5th-day-of-christmas-more-wierd-gifts/ is the URL

If you stay with me through my story today… I PROMISE, it will be worth it.

15 years ago I worked with a couple of high school kids who were totally geeks.  Their names were Paul Lambert and Richard Holdman.  They were great young men who had tremendous passion for all things technical.  Way back then I remember Richard taking a very old throw away computer(we’re talking pre Windows vs 3.11) and writing a program that allowed music to channel through it so it could affect this huge light board he had built from other scraps .(Think of a colorful disco floor but standing vertically as a wall.)

Well, like so many kids at the time Paul & Richard, had a DJ Dance business to help them pick up some always needed teenage cash. Most of us can remember the kids who showed up with a van full of equipment to DJ our high school dances.  There was really not much difference in kids you could hire to do this, cost wise or experience wise.  Except for these guys with their “Way Cool Wall of Lights” that flashed in rhythm with the music.  They  used their technological expertise and passion to do other cool things as well.

Needless to say these 2 guys DJ business was busier than most….way busier.  I remember thinking, WOW, these young studs are going to go places.  Years later Paul would start up and run a very successful wireless internet service for the local community.  Richard - I lost track of, but heard he was doing very well financially.  No surprise.

Last week when I got my  M-Power newsletter from friend Dr. Paul at Creation Tree Coaching I was delighted to read his short message about lights that led me back to a surprising and not so surprising reconnection with Richard Holdman.

Here is what I read from Creation Tree Coaching - as you finish the short message follow the link to Richard’s house…WOW!  Many of remember seeing someone do something like this a couple years ago…but true to his nature, Richard took it up a notch, or ten!  

Hello Friends!

One thing I really enjoy about this time of year is the lights.  Our slogan at CreationTree Coaching is “Make Some Light.”  The world can sometimes be a dark place, and I often talk to people who are experiencing darkness of some form in their life.  Challenges and adversity are abundant, and you will have multiple opportunities to choose your response to darkness.  Adversity illuminates character.  A phrase often attributed to Adlai Stevenson goes something like this, “It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”

Just for fun, I wanted to give you all a heads-up to a fun thing that I did this week with my family.  We saw a fantastic light display put on by a local family.  The Holdmans really know how to make some light.  Check them out at www.holdman.com/christmas/ - make sure you watch the videos!

Make some light in the world today.

Paul H. Jenkins, Ph.D.

The Holiday Season is upon us… let’s all help to make some light in this world.  There is a good chance that as you do, the world will respond to the light of your excellence in a way that creates even more opportunities for you to shine. 

Kirk Out

It seems the T4D’s of this week have taken on a strong customer service theme as the wonderful responses from readers just keep pouring in.  The story below from Harvey Mackay echoes so many of my own life experiences from the back seat of a cab.  The “Wally” experience he describes is indeed the exception, provided by someone who has made the chose to be exceptional.  Thank you T4D reader Sweta Rao for sharing it.

No one can make you serve customers well. That’s because great service is a choice. Years ago, my friend, Harvey Mackay, told me a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said:

‘I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.’
Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:

Wally’s Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest,
safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about you?

So today let’s score high, let’s soar high for ourselves, our teams and our customers.

Kirk Out

Thank you for all of the wonderful responses to yesterday’s T4D about customer service and Delta airlines. Many of them can be viewed at kirkweiseler.com/t4d

The response from Tony T4D reader in Maine was such an outstanding example of the spirit that I believe we should be aspiring too… it is today’s T4D.

Kirk,  I Had to share my story of the best customer service I ever had.

I subscribe to an online DVD rental club (Netflix). In a bleary eyed morning after turning 40, I put one of my kids DVD’s into a Netflix return envelope. I sent it back instead of the Netflix DVD. So, I emailed their customer service. I had very low expectations of getting the DVD back. They process millions of DVD’s everyday. They emailed me back and asked for a description. A few days after I responded, I got the email back that I had dreaded. Basically, it stated that because the DVD was a title that they also carried and the volume of DVD’s, they could not locate my lost DVD. Here is the kicker.  They said that they would refund $20.00 so I could go out and buy a NEW DVD!  And, they did it!

I have to say I almost wept at that point. This was a company that has thousands of customers, no physical stores and is growing rapidly. They did something that I think went beyond customer service. They have locked me in as a customer for life. Your experience with Delta reminded me of what good Customer Service is. In the world of the internet, where I am a faceless IP address, Netflix made me feel like the only customer they had.

Take care. Enjoy the holidays. I know you can make Delta into a Super Duper Pooper Scooper!

Tony Schwieterman 

I’ve spent the last couple of days in an intermittent dispute with Delta airlines Sky Magazine where I had purchased some advertising space in their December issue for my “Dog Poop Initiative” book.  Then on a couple of flights late last week I was dismayed to find November’s issues still in the seat pockets.  Where is the magazine I Paid to be in?”  I asked, “and why isn’t it on these planes yet?”

Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game.  Service wins the game.  ~TONY ALESSANDRA

Our greatest asset is the customer! Treat each customer as if they are the only one!
LAURICE LEITAO

People expect good service but few are willing to give it.   ~ ROBERT GATELY

Well done is better than well said.   ~ BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

To my customer.
I may not have the answer, but I’ll find it.
I may not have the time, but I’ll make it.
UNKNOWN

Here is a simple but powerful rule - always give people more than what they expect to get.  ~ NELSON BOSWELL

In business you get what you want by giving other people what they want.
ALICE MACDOUGALL

You’ll never have a product or price advantage again.
They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied.
JERRY FRITZ

Although your customers won’t love you if you give bad service, your competitors will.
KATE ZABRISKIE

If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends.
If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.
JEFF BEZOS

Customers don’t expect you to be perfect.
They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.
DONALD PORTER