10 Things I Know AreTrue About Global Hug Your Kids Day
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If I could only give one speech, one time, to a million people, and then never give a speech again, I'd talk about my son, Mark, and how he died suddenly when he was 8 1/2 years old from brain cancer. He was bright, funny, and kind - and never lived to start the fourth grade. I'd tell them about what I've learned since then about life, work, family - and hugs. The talk would have lots of funny and neat stories, with some sad parts, but ultimately, it would be uplifting and hopeful.
I loved Mark, and he loved me.
I am called to speak to corporations and organizations about the message "Hug Your Kids." It has changed my life. The impact it has on everyone else's life is just a bonus, like the cherries on a good cheesecake.
My target audience LIKES their work. They LOVE their family members, no matter what kind of family it is. They are always busy, tired, and trying to do all the right things. They are often stressed, because no matter how hard or long or "smart" they work, they never see the empty bottom of their IN BOX. They will never get all their work done, not even all their important work.
Generally speaking, men and women of generations X and Y understand BIG Picture Living more than Baby Boomers. As a 30-year-old dad told me recently, "In the scheme of things, work isn't even a distance third." Many Boomers' life priorities are work, work, and work. This different view of the importance of work as the various generations work together is a contributing factor of workplace stress.
Everyone loves their kids - all races, nationalities, faiths, lifestyles. Men love their kids as much as women do. It is a universal value, and therefore, the Hug Your Kids message is also a tool for peace.
Hugs are love in action. The love in your head and your heart doesn't count for much. It's like carrying around a gift for someone else. It's only when you give them their gift, and they open it and experience it, that the gift really has any value. Hugs are the same way.
No one outgrows hugs. Old people need hugs, and so do kids and moms and dads - and especially teenagers! Teens may make a scene about not hugging them, but tell 'em you know The Hug Lady and she said to stand there and take it! Daily hugs can change lives - yours and theirs!
Hugs between family members are almost always appropriate, unless the giver has a creepy agenda. However, a small percentage of people don't like to be hugged. Everyone has the right to refuse a hug.
Hugs are not wimpy. When soldiers go off to war, the last thing their family gives them is a hug, Then when our men and women in uniform return from war, mom, and dads, and spouses or lovers, don't just shake hands or say "I love you." They HUG!
Everybody dies. This isn't morbid. It's a fact of life. Once you accept this, the question is, Are you living the life you meant to live? If not, why not? What are you waiting for? This is what I call BIG Picture Living, where you live the life you meant to live, while you can, so in the end, whenever that is, you have no regrets.
To quote Captain Jack Sparrow's dad, in the third Pirates of the Carribean movie, "The trick isn't just living forever, Jackie. The trick is living with yourself forever."
Hug Your Kids Day must become self-sustaining so it can reach its full impact worldwide. It will take a combination of volunteers and staff, funded by corporate sponsors and partners. It must solve the needs of corporations and organizations in a big enough way that it makes good business sense, not charity, for them to fund the holiday.
