Hello and good day!
Over the last couple of years, we've heard about 30 stories from friends and customers who say that our chocolate has helped them get through hard times.
This has been an unexpected outcome and it is something that touches our family business deeply. It is an honor and a blessing to be able to provide a sense of peace or a moment pleasure to folks who are suffering through something difficult.
Reflecting on those stories got me to thinking that on the whole, it is a very special thing to be a part of somebody's life.Whether it is through chocolate, business activities, friendship, romantic relationships, family, or through whatever other means.
As far as any of us know for certain, we just have this one life to live. You live it. And then it is over. The universe is awash in energy.
My dad had a friend who once explained E = mc² to me as follows. Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.The speed of light on it's own is a tremendous velocity. If you square the speed of light, you get a number that is fantastical to the human mind. Here it is: 90,000,000,000 (km/sec)2.
It is not a number we can give any context to because nothing in our immediate physical world is ever that big or that fast. Now you multiply that already huge number times mass and that gives you the energy needed for the object in question to exist.
Even something very small, like a cacao pod, requires an unbelievable amount of energy to exist. Now think of all the mass in the entire universe multiplied by the speed of light squared. That is the quantity of energy in existence.
The man who explained all this to me was something of a renaissance man. He was a brilliant mathematician, a poet, a philosopher, and a deeply religious individual. .He called E = mc² the God equation, because to him it showed how powerful the creator must be.
Even if you aren't religious whatsoever, it is still awe inspiring to think about all that energy.
In comparison, the amount of time each of us human beings has on earth is almost meaninglessly short.As such, each unit of human time is precious. It is scarce in the extreme in the grand scheme of things. There are a lot of things that a person can do with their time. The options are endless.
But the amount of time for each one of those options is small.
That being the case, if somebody chooses to spend their time on you or with you, that should make you feel pretty dang special. They're giving you something that is very fleeting, finite, and valuable in the universe. They are giving you a little bit of their life.
It seems to me that like most precious gifts, there is an implied obligation that comes along with receiving somebody's time. The obligation is that you are going to value it and treat it with due respect.
Kind of like a family heirloom.
You don't just bandy about willy nilly with a family heirloom that has been passed down through the generations.You handle it with reverence. You treat it delicately. You show it proper respect.
A family heirloom is actually much more durable than human time. An heirloom can be passed down through generations. Our time on earth disappears forever in a moment, never to be seen again.
Here is the point I want to make.
If somebody is willing to give you a space in their life, I think it is your duty to be who they think you are. If somebody buys chocolate from us, we have a moral obligation to produce chocolate that is as good as we say it is.
Failure to do that is taking money that was earned through time and effort, which are a couple of the most scarce things in existence, under false pretenses and that is just about the most unfair thing imaginable.
The cacao pods are made with energy and there is a lot of energy out there. But you can never get your time back.
Likewise, if our friends, spouses, kids, customers, or co-workers are betting their time on us, we have obligation to do right by them by being who we say we are.
I started thinking about all this because we had a customer come into one of our shops not too long ago who had been through some very hard times.
This customer had been gifted some of our chocolate by a good friend, and it proved to be a nice break from some of the stress and heartache they were going through. When the friend heard that the chocolate was providing relief, they brought more and more.
Eventually, some months later, the person who had been suffering came into the shop for themselves. It was the first time they'd been out in awhile. At this point, we'd been given a space in this person's life. They came into the shop expecting something from us.
Imagine if that person would have had a terrible experience in the shop.For example, what if the person working that day was rude or inattentive? Or what if the shop was a total pigsty? Can you image what a disappointment that would have been?
It breaks my heart just to think about it. Thankfully, the person had a great experience. Our wonderful team lived up to expectations and all remained right in that person's world.
I know, because I saw it happen first hand.I was proud we could be in that person's life and I was proud that we have such a consistently thoughtful team.
Anyhow, to wrap up, I implore you to be good to those who are expecting goodness from you, those who are banking on your goodness, those who have placed a stake on your goodness, and who need it.
Thank you so much for your time today.
I hope that you have a truly blessed day!
