Filtering Posts by Category: Personal Edge

The Year Santa Claus Proved He Doesn’t Visit Naughty Children. Or Does He?

Last week I told you I was a sucker for Christmas Stories when I shared my first story from 1998 with you, Wise Men Still Seek Him.

When I was a kid, nobody made Christmas as special as my Grandma Harshaw. It was truly magical when my brother and sisters and all of my cousins would get together out in the old country farmhouse and open presents and eat a huge turkey dinner. Much later, when I read my first Christmas story to my family in my own house in 1997, my grandma who loved Christmas was touched to tears. Some of my best Christmas memories included my Grandma Harshaw.

After she passed away in 2010 at age ninety-one, I wrote my second Christmas story—the one you’re about to read now—as a tribute to that special lady and gifted it to my dad and grandfather. Different versions of this story were told almost every Christmas in my family, usually prefaced by “Did you ever hear about the year Santa Claus didn’t come?” It’s a simple story of sin and redemption, as played out in the mind of my dad when he was just five years old back on the family farm in 1948.

When I wrote this story I hired an artist to illustrate it just for fun. I lucked into finding a stellar illustrator named Chad Lewis, who now illustrates every Monopolize Your Marketplace blog posting. When I showed the final copy with all the illustrations to my then-ninety-two-year old grandfather, he went on and on about how the pictures looked just like my grandma used to look when she was young. It was a big hit.

And now I’d like to share this with you. It’s a family story, but one I’m sure just about everyone can relate to. I hope you enjoy it—both story and pictures. If so, feel free to share it with your family.

God Bless you, and Merry Christmas!

Download Country Christmas 1948

A Story About The Real True Meaning Of Christmas

By Rich Harshaw

I’ve always been a sucker for Christmas stories.

And I’ve always had a big mouth.

During the Christmas season of 1997, these two things intersected to create the story you’re about to read.

While visiting my in-law’s home that year, my mother-in-law read the family several Christmas stories. Most of them were short and fun; some were geared toward children; a few of them were even tear-jerkers.

On one particular night after a particularly edifying story, I surprised myself and the entire family by declaring that I would write a Christmas story of my own to be read at the next year’s Christmas.

When the next October rolled around, I realized I should probably get started on the story. Small problem—I had no ideas. Then I remembered a short poem I had read several years before about Santa Claus lamenting the fact that everyone loved Christmas, but almost nobody knew what any of the symbols of Christmas stood for. Like why green and red are the Christmas colors; why candy canes, bells, bows, and presents are associated with Christmas. Like that.

So I took that idea—explaining the symbols of Christmas—and wrapped it into a story about… wait for it… that’s right… advertising!
Read More

You Have A Moral Obligation To Your Soul To Seek Out
And Find Joy In Good Things.

By Rich Harshaw

“Give it a second; it’s going to space!”

That’s the advice Louis CK gives Conan O’Brien about technology and cell phones in the clip below. The advice stems from the comedian’s observation that we’re developing into a nation of entitled whiners who take literally everything for granted… to the point where any minor hitch in daily routine becomes grounds for angry ranting, incessant complaining, and even full-blown rage.

If your smartphone, for instance, refuses to load your Facebook page in the expected 0.4 seconds, you get impatient and implore it to “COME ON, YOU STUPID PHONE!”

We’ve all been there.

Traffic jams. Slow moving drive-thru lanes. Unfilled water glasses at restaurants. Delayed flights. Weather outages on DirecTV. Discovering broken eggs after you get home. Not enough likes on your Facebook post.

Major injustices. Unacceptable delays. Unforgivable mistreatment.
Read More

How To Succeed In Life By Focusing On Super Simple Stuff

By Rich Harshaw

There’s no way it’s that simple.

Actually, the path to success is usually so simple it’s mind-boggling. In fact, the only thing more mind-boggling than how simple the path to success actually is… is how reluctant most people are to acknowledge the simple path and take it—precisely because it is in fact so darn simple.

Don’t believe me? Answer this: if you had a deadly disease and were told you could be completely healed by dipping yourself in a local river, would you do it?

Naaman wouldn’t. At least not at first. Naaman was a commander of the Syrian army in Old Testament times; he contracted leprosy—which was incurable and deadly—so he called on a prophet in Israel, Elisha, who he heard could heal him.

When Naaman showed up at the prophet’s house, instead of greeting him personally, Elisha sent a servant with instructions: Naaman would be cured by dipping himself in the nearby River Jordan seven times. Naaman was furious: he had expected the prophet to meet him personally, call on the Lord on his behalf, and strike the disease out of his body. Besides, the River Jordan was polluted and disgusting—the thought of curing leprosy by bathing in it was absurd. According to the story, Naaman turned and went away in a rage.
Read More