BEHIND THE MIKE

For almost a half century now, I have made a living delivering speeches all over the world. The best part of the professional speaking business is I also get to share the platform with the top thought-leaders from around the globe.

What an extraordinary education! I could never replicate it in any other venue or any other setting in the world.

Occasionally I hear a proverb or a story that touches my heart and I find it valuable enough to share with the weekly readers of “Behind the Mike.”

Here is the story of the ice cream sundae. I have been unable to attribute it to a specific author, but heard it repeated by Paul Harvey at a Positive Thinking Rally in 1979 in New Orleans at the Super Dome.

The Ice Cream Sundae

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. “How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked.

“Fifty-cents,” replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.

“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired. By now, more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.

“Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins. “I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away.

The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies.

You see, he couldn’t have the sundae because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

And now you know the rest of the story.

I remember that story like it was yesterday… yet it took place some 40 years ago. Typical Paul Harvey, CPAE Hall of Fame Speaker. Above all else, he was a storyteller. Try following him on the platform; it gives a whole new meaning to the expression “in over my head.”

With Thanksgiving coming up later this month, stories like this one have me thinking “Thanks for giving such terrific lessons in a way they can be understood by everyone.”

The late President Kennedy once remarked, “We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”

Indeed, we should count our many blessings, but more importantly, we should pray that the blessings truly count! No one is more highly blessed than the one who gives freely. No one, as the expression goes, has ever become poor by giving.

Life is a boomerang. What goes around does come around. I’m reminded of Winston Churchill, who remarked, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

My wife, Christine, is one of the most loving and giving human beings I have ever known. She genuinely enjoys the process of giving and is modestly humbled by anyone who honors her with a gift.

We should never be angry that roses have thorns. Rather, be grateful that thorns have roses! Be appreciative for the little things in life that you did not get … and even more grateful for the few that you do.

The prayer to St. Francis of Assisi. “It is in giving that we receive, in pardoning that we are pardoned and dying that we are born into eternal life.”

Always be grateful for the ability to give… it means you have abundance to share. Thanks for giving!

Michael Aun, CSP, CPAE, is the recipient of the Phil Hosche Distinguished Service Award by National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, Orlando, Florida.