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Sharing Thanksgiving

Tony Robbins didn’t always have a great Thanksgiving. He recounts a story...

With a grateful heart – Happy Thanksgiving! Robin

The multi-millionaire and motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, didn’t always experience a great Thanksgiving. He recounts a story from his childhood to his audiences.


“My father was an angry man. He was always yelling at my mother. One year, it was almost Thanksgiving. We didn’t have any food, and there was certainly no celebration. My parents were in the middle of another one of their very loud and nasty arguments. There was a knock at the door. Being the oldest child, I went to answer the door. There stood a man who was holding a large box filled with food. At his feet was a big pot with an uncooked turkey inside. I was thrilled! We were going to have Thanksgiving dinner! The man asked to speak to my father. I managed to convince my dad to go to the door, but my dad was not happy. ‘We don’t take charity!’ my dad yelled as he tried to slam the door shut.


The delivery man was a big man.


He stuck his foot in the doorway, preventing it from closing. The man and my father bantered back and forth for a few minutes until, exasperated, the man finally said, ‘Don’t make your children suffer because of your ego.’ ‘Fine!’ my dad yelled. The man sat down the food and left. This whole situation confused me. I didn’t understand my dad’s thinking. We were going to have Thanksgiving dinner! I made the decision that someday I would help a stranger the way this stranger had helped my family.”


Tony helped his first two families when he was only 17 years old. And he discovered the buoyant feeling of sharing whatever he had with others who had less than he did. Sharing food at Thanksgiving became a tradition with him and his friends. When he started his businesses, his employees joined in. Eventually this tradition became the International Basket Brigade, which serves over two million people per year in numerous countries around the world.


Robbins says, “Everyone has the need to contribute. If you give from your heart, it will come back to you tenfold.”

How are you willing to give back this Thanksgiving? Connect with me on Facebook and share your Thanksgiving ritual of giving.