Tag: Disney World

Give Kids The World Founder Henri Landwirth Inspires Very Sick Children With Hope

There are rare moments when an email from a long lost friend is enormously inspiring. This is one of those moments. Neal McCord, my manager at Disney World 26 years ago, has a huge role in making sure Give Kids The World runs smoothly. His insights will fill your heart with hope.

I’m compelled to share this insider glimpse with you, because it is what makes Neal’s character, and the work Give Kids The World does, so remarkable. So needed.

“I just happened be nearby when they came for Princess Alyssa (as we call her) and they asked me to accompany her so she would have someone to direct her answers and responses toward. I sat in the room as they taped her and, the next thing I knew, they said, “OK, now you”.

They then asked me to answer a few questions. I had no idea that these unrehearsed, ad-libbed responses would end up on YouTube!

Nonetheless, I think this brief video captures the essence of the Village and you may feel free to share it with anyone you choose.”

I Have A Confession…

“I have a confession”, our son told me last night as I was checking in on my social media routine.

His confession was nothing alarming.  You see, we recently made an agreement that if he reaches a certain goal (with one of his daily chores) by the end on this month, he can pick out some Lego pods from the Lego store at Disney World (we live next door to Disney World).

However, while I was in Anchorage, Alaska this week, my wife got him one of these Lego pods.  They are small and inexpensive, in the big picture.

He was worried that he broke some sort of deal with me.  He did not. Not as far as I’m concerned anyway.

What he really did though, was remind me how thankful I am to have placed so much time and energy (worry) on developing honesty as a core value.  “You will never get in trouble for telling the truth”, is the mantra he’s heard over and over again.

This also makes me thankful for repetition.  Over and over again. Repetition is the “mother” of all learning.  It is the root of evil and the root of goodness.  But only if we focus on it, over and over again.

Forgive Yourself, Please

“A man must learn to forgive himself”. — Arthur Davison Ficke

One of life’s fundamental success principles is learning to forgive. Yet it’s not enough to simply learn how to forgive others. Which is and of itself, one of life’s biggest challenges.

Bigger still is doing it to yourself. Life will never be complete without the critically fundamental act of forgiving yourself.

Many people in, or nearing, mid life find this difficult.  We carry “baggage“.  Apparently, we like carrying baggage.  Why else would we carry so much of it?  It gives us excuses for why we are like we are.

Well, I dislike baggage.  Perhaps if we really wanted to change, we would.  So maybe, many of us are co-dependent on ourselves.

Hope your day is full of self-discovery.  Self-discovery in mid-life can be painful to admit.  It can also be the key to letting go of our baggage and learning how to travel with a lighter suitcase.

Despair Is The Price

“Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim”. — Graham Greene

Wow. Then what does it mean, “If your goal isn’t impossible, you’re not reaching high enough”?

Simply this:  You can set the bar low and reach a goal, and then wonder if you could have done better, eventually living with a certain degree of regret for not trying harder.

Or, you can set the bar impossibly high, give it your absolute best, fail, yet live with the satisfaction and peace that you left nothing on the table.

There are no guarantees in life.  But you already knew that, right?