| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| shawnsmith |
Posted - 04/30/2007 : 15:35:45
The Hugging Judge
Jack Canfield and Mark V. Hansen
http://eqi.org/hugjudge.htm
Don't bug me! Hug me! - Bumper Sticker
Lee Shapiro is a retired judge. He is also one of the
most genuinely loving people we know. At one point in
his career, Lee realized that love is the greatest
power there is. As a result, Lee became a hugger. He
began offering everybody a hug. His colleagues dubbed
him "the hugging judge" (as opposed to the hanging
judge, we suppose). The bumper sticker on his car
reads, "Don't bug me! Hug me!"
About six years ago Lee created what he calls his
Hugger Kit. On the outside it reads "A heart for a
hug." The inside contains thirty little red embossed
hearts with stickum on the back. Lee will take out his
Hugger Kit, go around to people and offer them a
little red heart in exchange for a hug.
Lee has become so well known for this that he is often
invited to keynote conferences and conventions, where
he shares his message of unconditional love. At a
conference in San Francisco, the local news media
challenged him by saying, "It is easy to give out hugs
here in the conference to people who self-selected to
be here. But this would never work in the real world."
They challenged Lee to give away some hugs on the
streets of San Francisco. Followed by a television
crew from the local news station, Lee went out onto
the street. First he approached a woman walking by.
"Hi, I'm Lee Shapiro, the hugging judge. I'm giving
out these hearts in exchange for a hug." "Sure," she
replied. "Too easy", challenged the local commentator.
Lee looked around. He saw a meter maid who was being
given a hard time by the owner of a BMW to whom she
was giving a ticket. He marched up to her, camera crew
in tow, and said, "You look like you could use a hug.
I'm the hugging judge and I'm offering you one." She
accepted. The television commentator threw down one
final challenge. "Look, here comes a bus. San
Francisco bus drivers are the toughest, crabbiest,
meanest people in the whole town. Let's see you get
him to hug you." Lee took the challenge. As the bus
pulled up to the curb, Lee said, "Hi, I'm Lee Shapiro,
the hugging judge. This has got to be one of the most
stressful jobs in the whole world.
I'm offering hugs to people today to lighten the load
a little. Would you like one?" The six-foot-two,
230-pound bus driver got out of his seat, stepped down
and said, "Why not?" Lee hugged him, gave him a heart
and waved goodbye as the bus pulled out. The TV crew
was speechless. Finally, the commentator said, "I have
to admit, I'm very impressed."
One day Lee's friend Nancy Johnston showed up on his
doorstep. Nancy is a professional clown and she was
wearing her clown costume, makeup and all. "Lee, grab
a bunch of your Hugger Kits and let's go out to the
home for the disabled."
When they arrived at the home, they started giving out
balloon hats, hearts and hugs to the patients. Lee was
uncomfortable. He had never before hugged people who
were terminally ill, severely retarded, or
quadraplegic. It was definitely a stretch. But after a
while it became easier with Nancy and Lee acquiring an
entourage of doctors, nurses and orderlies who
followed them from ward to ward.
After several hours they entered the last ward. These
were 34 of the worst cases Lee had seen in his life.
The feeling was so grim it took his heart away. But
out of their commitment to share their love and to
make a difference, Nancy and Lee started working their
way around the room followed by the entourage of
medical staff, all of whom by now had hearts on their
collars and balloon hats on their heads.
Finally, Lee came to the last person, Leonard. Leonard
was wearing a big white bib which he was drooling on.
Lee looked at Leonard dribbling onto his bib and said,
"Let's go, Nancy, there's no way we can get through to
this person." Nancy replied, "C'mon, Lee. He's a
fellow human being, too, isn't he?" Then she placed a
funny balloon hat on his head. Lee took one of his
little red hearts and placed it on Leonard's bib. He
took a deep breath, leaned down and gave Leonard a
hug.
All of a sudden Leonard began to squeal, "Eeeeehh!
Eeeeeehh!" Some of the other patients in the room
began to clang things together. Lee turned to the
staff for some sort of explanation only to find that
every doctor, nurse, and orderly was crying. Lee asked
the head nurse, "What's going on?"
Lee will never forget what she said: "This is the
first time in 23 years we've ever seen Leonard smile."
How simple it is to make a difference in the lives of
others.
*************
Sarno-ize it!
************* |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Woodchuck |
Posted - 04/30/2007 : 22:21:09
quote:
Originally posted by shawnsmith
The Hugging Judge
Jack Canfield and Mark V. Hansen
http://eqi.org/hugjudge.htm
Don't bug me! Hug me! - Bumper Sticker
That is really neat SS! I'm an AA Member (a little over 21 years now) and one of things that really disturbed me when I first attended meetings was getting hugs from guys (yes, I live in California and nothing like that :) Anyway, after awhile, I loosened up and began to realize that many people are really helped in their recovery by something as simple as a hug. Including me! My parents were simply not demonstrative in that way when my sister and I were growing up, so such a "huggy" deal like that in AA was quite foreign and distrubing at first. Now I will hug anyone who seems to want one. And, it's pretty easy to spot the "stiff boards" who still want to keep a distance. LOL! I'm going to print that article and pass it around. Thanks for posting this.
Woodchuck |
| armchairlinguist |
Posted - 04/30/2007 : 18:03:38
I also like this because it shows that we can do good without being perfect. The hugging judge had some reservations about the people in the ward but he was doing good anyway.
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Wherever you go, there you are. |
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