“I’ll be right back,” the lady said to her colleague. “I’ve got to finish giving my chocolate bars away.”
The colleague nods. I’m sitting next to him at a conference breakfast, and I look at him with must have been a look like, “What? Chocolate bars? At breakfast?”
He smiles, and says, “You’ll have to ask her about them.” I could tell he was indirectly saying, it’s her story to tell, not mine. Yes, ask her about the chocolate I will.
I see her hand a chocolate bar to a server and give him a hug.
She finally comes and sits back down and smiles. I, of course say, “So you have to tell me about the chocolate bars.”
I’ve never seen anyone light up so much as she tells me about how her habit with chocolate bars comes from her very first client that manufactures them. Nancy, I learn is her name, and she explained to me that she had come out of a bad job situation in HR management. She said she had been battling breast cancer and her employer was absolutely awful in helping her through this, so she quit.
She interviewed for a position at the chocolate manufacturer, to which the hiring manager told her she was overqualified for the role and that she needed to start her own business in HR compensation consulting.
“I’ll hire your company then to work with us on some compensation issues we are having,” he told her. And he gave her a chocolate bar as she left.
The chocolate giving lady then went on to say that this was the beginning of a new life for her. She did start that business, and five years later, everywhere she goes she gives out chocolate bars to people to show gratitude and to challenge people to reach for their dreams.
She told me, “I didn’t even realize this was my dream until he challenged me to do this.” Grinning again she said, “Now it is only right for me to pass this along.”
So today, I challenge you to take a lesson from Nancy and figure out what your own chocolate bar is. Then, figure out a way to not to only share it with others, but more importantly, share it to constantly remind yourself of what and who you have to be thankful for and to pass that on.
Like this post, you may also like:
Love Lives Here a new book out by Maria Goff. Maria and her husband, Bob, who wrote Love Does, give out real keys to their own home as their chocolate bars. This is a way to show that love resides in their home and is therefore something to be shared.
Count Your Problems and Be Thankful
