Merry Christmas

Well it has been a year since we initiated the dak project. An entire year. I should qualify though, because last christmas the only people with dakbands were friends and family. We kind of beta tested the concept before we went public.

I remember the first pair of bands I ever gave out. I was nervous. Really nervous. I was shopping at a local upscale mall, and I had had plenty of opportunity to give them away, but I wasn't sure of my approach. It was the 24th of December (and yes, I was shopping yesterday as well - I am always surprised when it is the day before Christmas and my shopping list looks the same as it did at the beginning of the month!) and I was in a 30 minute line up with a lot of other miserable and tired looking shoppers. There were two lines, equally long, and the only thing more depressing than the length of the lines was the look on the faces of the poor girls at the cash register. However there was an elderly lady in front of me, and didn't she just light up that store! She was like little Christmas elf, happy and joyful, chatting to me, the people in front of her, the people beside her in the other line, to anybody and everybody. After she finally checked out, and was about to leave the store I reached out and touched her arm as she walked pass me. She paused, expecting me to wish her a Merry Christmas I'm sure, but I gave her two bands saying, " Thank-you for your joyful spirit, please take these dakbands in recognition of your kindness. One is for you to keep, the other is for you to give away when you see someone doing something kind." My heart was pounding. Then I realized that her eyes had filled with tears. She took the bands and said, "You have just made my Christmas. Can you imagine what the world would be like if everybody gave a pair of these away? Thank-you."

Of course, I can imagine, and that is why I created them.

I've never worried about giving the bands away again. In fact, other people in the line asked for some bands!

There are probably close to 50 or 60 thousand bands in the world right now. We certainly do not have stories for all these bands, but as the bands become more popular and people recognize what they are when they receive them, I'm sure the stories will come. Every story is truly a gift, the kind money can't buy. The stories are gifts to the whole world because they show us how kindness affects us, touches our heart, and gives birth to peace.

Merry Christmas!

Here are a couple of wonderful christmas daks, please check out band numbers: 143694, 21727 (Once on the track your dak page you have to enter the number in the 'Dak code' window and then click on the band number to read the story.)