Why "Wow!"? (Part 3)

Well here's the third and final ingredient of "Wow!" Always semi-elusive, but worth striving for. You've been introduced to Surprise and Awe and trailing not far behind is Delight.

Delight. Not a word used too often. But an important, if often overlooked ingredient.

Here's a story to illustrate Delight.

I grew up in Roanoke, Virginia on a beautiful piece of property that bordered a national forest. My grandparents bought the land in 1980 and my parents moved there from Florida to build a home several years after my grandparents had purchased it.

I have a lot of fond memories growing up "on the farm". Many of these revolved around hot summers when me and my Granddad (a delightful man!) would take a walk through the woods. Never lacking for a piece of candy or a happily whistled tune, my Granddad would point all kinds of plants and animal tracks to me. We'd sip icy cold water from a spring nestled between mountain ridges and imagine what it was like to live 100 years ago up in these hills.

Following those walks we'd inevitably end up on his back porch that overlooked Chestnut Mountain perched comfortably in our rocking chairs. We'd rock and laugh and wait patiently for what we knew was to come. It was almost delivery time.

This meant Grandma bringing us small margarine containers (Grandma wasn't one to waste a good container...or anything else come to think of it...) full of homemade ice cream that had been stored away in the big deep freeze for such an occasion as this.

Absolutely delightful. There was almost a reverence to those moments. They were so special, so delightful that they needed to be captured and frozen in time much like the peach ice cream that we were eating.

This is "Wow!" It's an experience that is so simple yet so profound. It's sharing a moment, sharing a laugh, sharing a story, sharing life. It's delight.

Delight is found in the simple things. A warm, freshly baked cookie offered to your clients when they walk in your office could be an example of this. Sending a handwritten thank-you card for a referral that a happy client gave along with a $5 gift certificate to Starbucks could be another.

Small gestures, big returns. Are you a delight or a drag?