Today I just want to share a short story with you. It’s all about those gestures that make the difference.
I have been playing the online football game Hattrick for years – six or even seven already. Back in the early days it was a big, big game here and around the world – everyone wanted to have a team. Signing up for one was and still is easy, but it was such the madness for the game that you needed to wait for 2-3 or sometimes more WEEKS until you could receive one.
I was such an ass that I signed up for multiple teams, in a foolish and then penalized attempt to cheat. Once I settled down and decided not to do it anymore, I had just two teams left – my actual and definitive team and one other without use. A Hattrick forum friend (who, for the record, I never met in person) lost his team for some reason (which I don’t remember) and as he was nice, friendly and all pissed with waiting weeks for a new one, I just gave him my extra team.
I didn’t expect nothing in return – I just didn’t need that extra team and knew he would be really happy to have it. As he was nice and helpful with the community and with me, I just mailed him once giving him the team ID and password and left it entirely up to him.
And he was really happy. He thanked me lots and built a great team out of it. Soon after, however, the fad was running down, the forum started to die out and we hardly spoke to each other again. We just organized, once a while and without any speaking involved, friendlies between our two teams, all online.
And then, the surprise. Today, at least six full years since I gave him that team and two days after losing the promotion to the second highest category (damn!), I got the Hattrick Supporter activation in my inbox. He had just sent it.
While Hattrick is free, you can sign up for the Supporter version (just 10$ every three months) which includes extra features to further personalize your team. It doesn’t give you any advantage on the actual playing of the game, but the features are a nice addition if you like and play Hattrick.
I was surprised, really. That’s what I call a remarkable gesture. That’s good people – that’s the kind of things that win me. Not because of the material – it’s just 10$-, but because of taking the time and thinking about making this kind of present.
We didn’t speak for years… He didn’t have to do it. Yet, he just sent me the invitation and wrote me that he hoped to pay out the favor I had done for him so long ago.
I’m honestly grateful and happy about this. And it’s so simple – see how easy it was for him to make the surprise and make me smile. Again, not because of the material – it’s because of doing it. It’s because of saying ‘I want to do this for this guy’.
I suggest you to really think about this and similar gestures. See how something so small can make people have a great impression about you and your values. I know that out of 100 guys, few, if any, would have done the same this friend did – especially since more than half a decade has passed since I made him that small, tiny favor.
Just like I did back then, I try actively to do these kind of presents to people who deserve it. Most times a smile and knowing you make a good person happy is enough for me, but it makes it special when far into the future they still remember and remind me of the good I did for them.
With just a bit of love, good feelings and effort you can really make an impact in someone. This is just a small example, but the same applies to almost anyone and anything in life. Do it just to do it, and someday, perhaps, you’ll get a nice payoff as I did – not in money, not in material, but in feelings.
(You can guess, beyond all this, how insane we are for football in Argentina!)
Liked This Article? You'll Enjoy These Ones Too:
- None Found
