Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!

Here’s a little holiday fun… Are you a Valentine Einstein? (Answers are in the p.s., just in case.)

1. True or False: In the 1800s, physicians commonly treated “broken-hearted” patients with chocolate.

2. How many heart shaped boxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine’s Day? 
A) 65 million    B) 36 million  C) 42 million

3. How many new conversation heart sayings are introduced each year?  
A) 3   B) 5    C) 10

So, how’d you do?

Actually, I only got one of the three right, so Valentine Einstein or not, I’d like to share what we here at Impression Engineers like to think is one of the true meanings of today (and everyday).

"Three keys to more abundant living: caring about others, daring for others, sharing with others." ~William A. Ward~

Everyday should be a day of love, love for ourselves, love for those that are part of our lives, and even love for those we do not know… yet… You just never know, how your life affects all others…

You just never know…

Last Friday, in the process of researching a big project, a client and I decided we needed to interview a CEO of a large foundation to give us a jump-start on our research.

Somehow, we got through the gate-keeper (his assistant) on the first try and left a short voice mail with our request.  Amazingly, the CEO called us back within 10 minutes and gave us over an hour of time, answering all our questions in detail, as well as, generously answering our very last question of “What other questions should we have asked you?”

We all laughed, he gave us about ten more minutes of great learnings and then as we were closing, thanking him for his generosity, he said, “I don’t know if you are aware of why I returned your call…” No, we were not… he continued “About 20 years ago, your brother (meaning my clients) was the person I needed research information from and he generously gave of his time and expertise, I’m just happy that after all these years, I can return the favor."

One thing I learned long ago is that what goes around, comes around… You just never know… what you do today, how you treat others today, someday may be returned… how and when, you just never know.

"I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all." ~Leo Rosten~

Have a great day in whatever your adventure.

To Life! To Success!

Sharon

p.s. The Answers:

1. True — In the 1800s, physicians commonly treated brokenhearted patients with chocolate.  Woo huu… it was true then and for me, still is!! Nothing like a good piece of mouth-watering chocolate when you need it…

2. More than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine’s Day. Chocolate is the number one favorite flavor in America according to the Chocolate Manufactures Association (CMA). The second most popular candy for Valentine’s Day is the tiny pastel hearts inscribed with messages called ‘conversation hearts.’

3. The answer is 10. NECCO Sweethearts Conversation Hearts have been around since 1902 producing over 8 billion hearts this year. Weather-inspired sayings seemed to be this year’s trend "Melt My Heart," "In A Fog," "Chill Out," and "Cloud Nine."