So here we go again...
With the holidays coming up quickly and my book "Sensitivity 101 for the Heterosexual Male" out and available, I needed to come up with a new vehicle to help get my message out.
As I say in the book "This life we live should be an easy one. There are only three things that should be focused on-learning, sharing, and helping." So going forward, hopefully every Monday, I will "teach" and "share" with you the chapters of my book and the lessons that they have. And then I will also try to include some real life acts of kindness I encounter throughout the week. I hope this allows you to see how we do indeed "help" others.
The first thing I have to tell you about is that 10% of my profits are going to a wonderful organization, The Children's Miracle Network. When I started working for a company that is deeply invloved with Costco Wholesale, I learned about this charity and fell in love with the idea. CMN helps raise needed revenue for children's hospitals in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland and Australia. I believe that "children are our future and that their health should be all of our concern." So each quarter when I recieve my royalty check the first thing I do is write a personal one to this charity. It feels good to help others when you can. And you as my readers are doing your part just by buying the book.
In fact for the month of December, I am donating 25% of my profits to this organization. So give the gift that actually gives twice as much. We all know a book lasts far longer than a box of chocolates.
I also want to share with you how my acknowledgements page came to be. I have learned a great deal from the people that I have met in my life. Some of the most important ones were the "actual girls (now ladies) that influenced the characters" of Sensitivity 101 for the Heterosexual Male. Without them I would not be the person I am today. On the start of this journey I sent some bad manuscripts out to some very understanding editors who all told me "This is bad...can't help you...are you sure you are a writer?" Their rejections just made me work harder and prove them wrong. Thankfully an editor, Cliff Carle, came along and saw the "talent" that was hidden by my lack of writing skills. With his patience and teaching I was able to pick up this thing called writing and lo and behold found out I was indeed a writer, I just needed to develop this talent.
All of these people taught me something, shared their individual expertise with me and were able to help me on this journey...and know I can help the people of CMN when you buy my book. See how the circle works?
That's enough about the book this time. Now let me share a story that happened to me on a plane trip recently from Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada.
I was sitting in the waiting area, and man was it crowded! There were only a few empty seats and none together. There was an empty seat next to me and across from there was another one next to a very pretty lady. I was "reading" my book and she saw the title so we started talking. About 10 minutes before loading the plane an elderly couple, probably both in their eighties, strolled into the waiting area looking for a place to sit. As they got closer to me, I politely stood up and offered them the two seats together. As they thanked me, the pretty lady (Kelly was her name) asked me to sit next to her. We continued talking about my book until we were told to "line up."
I am a frequent flyer and always use the airline that has no assigned seats. Being that I fly so much I am always one of the first ones on the plane. This time was no different and in fact Kelly was also right behind me in line.
So I entered the plane, found an aisle seat and sat back waiting for all the others to come on board. Kelly also found an aisle seat right in front of me and did the same. Slowly, very slowly, the plane started to fill up--so much so that when the last two people entered the plane there were only 2 empty seats available. One up front, the other way in the back. As luck would have it the same elderly couple I ran into before were the last two people on board.
The seats next to me were taken, but the seat next to Kelly was one of the empty seats. I saw her slowly get up as she saw the couple enter the plane and she waited until they were right next to her when she said, "Here take my seat, the one in the back is too far away, and besides I wouldn't want to split up such a lovely couple."
As the couple once again gave thanks for a friendly person, I opened my bag which contained extra copies of my book. I reached in and pulled out a hardcover copy, autographed it, and handed it to the flight attendant to give to Kelly after take-off.
Much to my surprise the flight attendant addressed what had happened over the intercom...long story short--Kelly got a free book and I was able to sell 50 more thanks to the flight attendant.
Once again, the circle of one good turn deserves another, worked it's magic...
So that's how this will work. I will talk about a chapter from "Sensitivity 101 for the Heterosexual Male" and then share a "good deed" that I encountered from the week. I look forward to your commnets and your experiences, remember we are all in this together!
I hope we can all learn, share and help together!
Till later, Phil
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