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“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou―

The above is one of my all time favorite quotes. I first heard that quote on TV when someone was talking about the death of Mohamed Ali the boxer. When I heard that quote my mind was like…”WOW… that is just so true”. The human body is built to not only work, but it is built to feel. And in my humble opinion the human soul is always looking for ways to feel.

Max here,

Today is Monday December 16, 2019 and the time is 2:03am. and the location is the club in the ATX.

For me it is still Sunday, I got here to work on Sunday, just minutes before my shift started. And now I have about 3 more hours before my shift ends and my drive back to San Antonio begins.

So what’s been happening lately for Max?…… Taxes, Taxes, and more Taxes. The hammer finally came down and man…. I am just not sure how I am going to make it….. But we will save the tax thing for another post. I want to dedicate this post to what I did recently.

For the last several years, I do things for the girls I work with…. I do this because I learned from my Boss (and not in a good way that it is important to show the people that give to us that they are important)

My boss has always extorted me for money, but we will also save that issue for another post. But how did I come to this revelation of giving to those that give to me? It’s simple, One day my boss felt that I was being greedy and not giving him enough money and so he decided that I wasn’t a good boy, so he decided to change things up and tell me that I now need to also give money to other managers in tandem with what I give to him…… I felt so used, so targeted, and hurt that I am being soloed out for something all because of one persons view of his own greed. Somehow within me, I went inward in my emotions, I then sat quietly and asked God, why is this happening? What can I do to reframe my life about this situation? And maybe it was the books and videos that I had been reading, maybe it was meditation that I was doing, or maybe I was just trying to find ways to unlock what is already within me.

So what I somehow thought about was that I need to double down on those that care for me. I need to ensure that I become a truly caring person. And through that my picnics were born and my Xmas stockings for the girls were born and my Grinch gift giving for the girls was born.

So now each year, a week or two before Xmas I create Xmas stockings for just about all the girls that work with me.  Sometimes I might forget a girl or two because they will not work a month or two leading up to the time of me prepping the stockings. Doing these stockings and Xmas gift giving is actually a very arduous process for me. Its extremely time intensive and takes a small amount of planning and a lot of thought. Each year I go to Walmart and purchase somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 or more Xmas stockings as well as little things to accentuate the stockings. Then during the weeks ramping up to the Xmas stockings I compile a list of all the girls that have been consistently working with me along with their locker number, then I go home and take a full day to write the girls names on each stocking. I use a glue gun then powder it with glitter to make the name pop. Then I set them aside and let the glue dry. Then I later buy candy and all the items to put on the stockings, then I sit down a write a thank you letter for the girls that work for me. This letter is just a thank you letter that I give to all of the girls. But what is important to me is that I do my best to really convey the meaningfulness of what they do for me.

and that’s where this post comes to life. I want to dedicate this post to the letter that I wrote to the girls. This years letter was a little long, but I think it holds meaning to what I must do in my own personal life, and how I must also learn to look at things in life. And hopefully you will agree. Life in itself is already a super uber large puzzle that we spend every moment of our life trying to solve, and for some of us along our journey we get so frustrated with this puzzle that we forget to try and work on the puzzle, while for others, much like me, we didn’t even realize it was a puzzle until someone, or something, (God maybe) nudged us hard enough to wake us up to reality and help us remember that we actually had dreams from our youth.

This thank you letter that I gave the girls…. I named it 3 simple words. Hopefully you will agree that it’s three simple words that is at the core of this soup of things that we call life….. Enjoy.

Three Simple Words

Another year has come and gone. And for some of whom I have already shared Xmas with, I am honored and blessed to share another Xmas hug and smile with you. And for others, this will be my first year seeing your beautiful smile and being lucky enough to say Merry Xmas and Happy New Year.

 It may be good, may be bad, but I have been here at the club long enough to know the true importance of saying thank you to those that give to me. Some people can see and easily understand that the words of “thank you” can easily mean nothing when said on a daily basis and said in an environment where money is all that most people really care about. However, when thank you is said and followed with daily practice. Practice of care, practice of understanding, practice of finding small ways to be selfless to those that give to you. That’s when “thank you” means something completely different.

 Recently when I went to Columbia, And while in Columbia, I stayed at an AirBNB (someone’s home that I do not know). And while there I met a woman who has been married for over 35 years…. And if you think about it for just a moment…In your own personal life…..How many people have you known for over 35 years? What’s your longest relationship? Do you speak to that person every day? When you ask someone about their day, do you actually wait long enough to truly and deeply care to know what they say? Do stay quiet and listen to all of their emotions, or do you hurry to interrupt them, only so you can hurry on with your own personal day? Or even cut their story short only so you can tell them about your day?

 When I spent time with the woman with over 35 years practice being married to her husband…. I asked the most important question….. What is the secret to being married that long? And I asked that question not simply because I am curious, but more so because, if I truly believe that if I can learn the secret to 35 years of marriage, then I can learn the secret to having lifelong friendships…. This is the secret that I think everyone should know…

 So what did the woman say? What is her secret to lifelong “togetherness” Lifelong “happiness” Lifelong “Friendships”…..Her secret was said in 3 Simple words. Just 3 simple words.  And these three simple words is something that I now try every day of my life to practice. Unknowingly, over the last few years, I have been trying to practice and cultivate this secret, and sadly, I am not perfect at it, and I still have a lot to learn and will probably be practicing to master this secret for the rest of my life…. But what she said to me made perfect sense.

 So what are these three words? What are these 3 words to lifelong marriage, lifelong friendship? What you may not know is that these three words are the very reason that I write this letter, these three simple words are the reason why sometimes we disagree and other times we laugh, these three simple words are the reason why “thank you” never really says enough and never says deep enough about the gratitude that I have for all that you give to me…. Whether its gifts, money, a smile or even that much needed hug. It’s these three simple words that sum up everything to make any relationship last 35 years and beyond.

 The woman……married for over 35 years…..said this to me…

It’s simple…..”It’s the alimientos”.  “It’s the alimientos”

 For some that don’t know, alimientos means small food, or foods, and in translation, what the lady was trying to say is that…..”It’s the small things”

She said….”It’s the small things that make a relationship last. When you do the small acts of kindness on a daily basis to those you care about, then you are sowing seeds of love”

 And so to me it’s the alimientos…. That’s the reason why I do this letter. My words of “thank you” will never be enough to show you that I care, but hopefully it is small things like this that will always paint a picture of how I feel.

 Wishing you and everyone you love a very Merry Xmas and uber Happy New Year!

Con Carino,

Maxwell Stone.

btw….(my 4 legged daughter) her name is Abigail… She’s not sleeping…. She is actually guarding the stockings. Good girl Abigail. your doing an awesome job!