TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO BUILD TEAMWORK

On a recent flight I sat next to a woman with wisdom.  And, of course, wisdom is what we learn after we know it all.  That’s who and what she was: A wise person who could teach others simply by how she lived. 

As we chatted, she shared that when she first moved to a certain big city with her husband and three young children, not one neighbor came to greet them.  The weeks went by, they unloaded boxes and hung pictures and drapes, but nobody welcomed them to the neighborhood.  So one day she told her kids, “Let’s bake cookies for all!” —and they did.  Then, loading up their little red Radio Flyer wagon, they spent a Saturday morning delivering fresh, still-warm homemade cookies and big smiles to their new neighbors, up and down the street.

Upon hearing her story, I commented, “Um, gee, that’s really something.  Your family was the new family in the neighborhood and yet you took cookies to people!?”  Her response was wise.  Leaning toward me with a hint of mischief in her eyes, she nearly whispered, “Sometimes you just gotta teach people how to live.”

(Thanks John G. Mille, Authorr)