Jul 29 2008
The Best Gift
Moving is always a hassle! But, it’s a good time for me to get rid of old stuff. Things I haven’t used in a long, long time. That’s exactly what I’m doing this week as I prepare to move into my brand new home. BTW, I’m truly incognito – far from the sight of any TV cameras as I sport my sons basketball shorts, oversized t-shirts and a pair of worn-out Keds sneakers (sexy, huh?). I’m in serious mover-mode. I’m sorting through jeans I haven’t worn in months, toys my sons haven’t played with in years and electronics that have become obsolete.
As I move room to room packing up boxes, I realized there was an object that we hadn’t touched in, well, forever…our Fisher upright piano. That antiquated piano bought up an interesting challenge for me. Should I take it? Should I sell it? Should I give it away? It wasn’t a decision I wanted to make in haste, so I decided I would sleep on it.
As fate would have it, the next day I ran into Jenny, my oldest son’s former teacher. We started chatting like gal pals. She shared with me that she was worried about one of her young sons, who she described as being a very “unusual” child. Jenny told me he liked music, theatre and the arts at just the tender young age of five. He started taking piano lessons last week, and she said that when Bobby played, she could see that his soul had been unleashed. He appeared calmer and happier. We laughed about how each of our children is so uniquely different, and how much we love them all the same. Yet, I could see that she was really concerned about little Bobby.
Later, I reflected on our conversation, and thought about that old piano. After much thought, I decided that I would gift it to this precious woman and her family. I called her the next day. When I told her I wanted to give her the piano, she almost dropped the phone. I could hear in her voice that she had started to get choked up with tears of joy. She told me my call was an answer to her prayers. She said my gesture served as a confirmation that her son was meant for music and the arts, and that she would no longer need to worry about him or stand in his way. She thanked me profusely for being a conduit of good. That’s the highest compliment anyone could every give me, but it gets even better.
She wrote me a brief thank you note, and closed it with a quote I will never forget. It is by Winston Churchill.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”.
Wow! I’m impacting someone else’s life by a random act of kindness. How cool is that? You know…I do it all the time through my Foundation, called Angels Trace which is a “life-line” of support for domestic violence victims. And each time I touch another person’s life, it’s just as special as the last because it gives me a great deal of personal satisfaction. I’m telling you that serving others is the best gift you could ever give. There’s no better feeling in the world!
Go out today and give someone that extra special reason to live life to its fullest. What you get back is greater than anything you could ever imagine! Who knows, maybe you could give a child like Bobby the tools he needs to become the next Beethoven.
To your shining in the spotlight,
Alice Collier
TV Image Coach
P.S. For more information on Angels Trace and my story about being a survivor of spouse abuse, visit our new website www.angelstrace.org.
Photo Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/texturejunky/2264146814/
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