I’m Oddly Thankful

Since we are getting closer to Thanksgivings, I thought I would tell you about a unique situation that I am thankful for.

A few years ago I was a member on a board of people who were in charge of about 300 men and women. I will not go into too much detail about that, since it is a story of its own. However, the head of our board was a man named Alan and he was by far the most amazing person I ever had the privilege of meeting. Now, before we get into the story, it is important to point out some of the characteristics that made him so amazing.

He is kind beyond any person I have ever met. He built his life around helping others. He would meet with someone in the middle of the night if he was needed, and he was always there to pick people up when they fell.

He is one of the smartest people I ever knew. There was virtually no subject that he did not know about and he was quick to read about any subject that he was unclear on. However, being as smart as he was, he too, was wise enough to never show off this trait. But everyone could see it in him.

He had made his own way in life. He owned multiple business that were all very successful. Many of these, you would know if I named them. He also owned many small medical clinics that never made him a monetary profit, but they helped so many people that he could never bring himself to claiming those losses and closing them. He owned more money and claims to power than any person could ever dream of… but, he never forgot the times when he didn’t have all of that and he never made others feel like they were inferior to him.

Now that we have defined who this man actually was I need to give a bit of back story in order for my thankfulness to make sense.

During a large conference 175 people crammed into a room and waited to hear Alan speak. He spoke so charismatically I would have guessed that he gave the same talk a thousand times. Part of his lecture was on the long lost art of the hand written thank-you letter… I never forgot this, and it is important to my story.

Soon after this, our group was to disband and we would all go in our own various ways. I knew on this last meeting he would share, not only some grand knowledge, but also a hand written thank-you letter with my name on it. Sure enough on our last day, all of us on the board were handed our very own hand written thank-you letters.

I was so excited that I almost couldn’t wait. Once I was alone in my room I opened the envelope. Inside of it there was a handmade card with a flower on it, which I figured was made by his wife. Once I opened the actual card, I was met confusion:

The card simply read “Dear Ben, It was a pleasure working with you. Also, if you are wondering about the card, it was made by my wife.”

Although it was amazing that he knew I would wonder about the card, this was completely bizarre to me. At first I was felt let down. I felt destroyed. How could this man, who is so amazing and packed with so much wisdom leave me with this? He could have given me some tip to being a successful business owner. He could have reminded me the value of human kindness… Instead I was given some flower card simply explaining its own origins? I was hurt.

However… after a bit of thinking I learned why I should be thankful.

Although the card was not packed with the secret of the universe like I expected, it showed me something far more valuable. Alan was just a normal man. He did not know how to say goodbye. He did not have some movie quality last liner. He didn’t even want this to be the end… just like the rest of us.

And if, as a normal man, he possessed all of these amazing skills like kindness, strength, knowledge and the ability to lead. Well, then perhaps one day, I, as a normal man, could be amazing like that too.

I will always remember his lesson, and will always be thankful.

I hope you all find that odd thing you are thankful for and I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving.