Disney California Adventures from Disney Pier hotel window
We also got the opportunity to stay in the Disney land Pier hotel. ( Now Disney Pixar Place Hotel). We were all minds blown, had never been in such a magical hotel before. There was magic all around us, but there was also magic outside of the magic that happened from Disney. I would have to say the biggest golden nugget, magical moment happened outside the parks, a story and a lesson from my grandmother and Lisa Nichols and a moment to connect and share with my children.
My grandmother always made it a point to teach us kids that it’s important to pick up after ourselves.
No matter where we were, don’t leave a mess for someone else it’s just not right. She would share stories with us about being one of four kids and how she watched how hard her mom and dad worked and the lessons she learned from them and raising my mom and my aunt. She tried to remind us grandkids each time we would go someplace, out to eat, a hotel, someone’s house. This is one of the most important lessons I have learned from my grandma.
After finding out about the motivational speaker and coach Lisa Nichols, I had the opportunity to hear her TED talks video sharing with the world the lesson she learned from her grandmother about picking up after herself and how to show appreciation for the invisible workers and to the people with jobs such as being a maid for a fancy hotel.
Lisa had shared that her grandma had come out with her for Lisa’s featured interview on the Oprah show.
But it sounds like the biggest gold nugget of lessons and experiences that came out of that trip was the story and lesson from her beloved grandma. Her grandma had said something along the lines of not only did Lisa need to make her bed, clean the “sink basin,” and then also leave the cleaning lady a descent tip.
Lisa shared that she was very puzzled by all these instructions from her grandma- like I was with mine.
But then she shares that her grandma had said “You left that tip because on the days that your great grandmother got tip, we were able to have meat that day,” (Lisa Nichols Grandma). Then she shared that her grandma had then said something along the lines of you might be staying in this fancy plush hotel but “you are not walking on the carpet, you’re not really walking on those shoes. You’re walking on their shoulders. Somebody worked from sunup to sundown for you to occupy that seat,” (Lisa Nichols, Lisa’s Grandmother).
Barely Recognizable : Lisa Nichols at TEDxCalicoCanyon
Now on our trip, I was sure to tell my daughters these stories and we may have been staying at the nice hotel, but somebody put their blood sweat, tears in on these floors, beneath these floors, their lives, so in honor of them and the people working their butts off to keep this place clean we will strip our beds, make sure everything is clean. But also leave a thank you note and a tip.
This warmed my daughters hearts because they heard the stories, understood the connection, value, then the lesson and took pride in cleaning up, leaving a note, with a tip. And now any time we go stay anywhere we do this. I think in this moment too, I also got to really understand the lesson and stories my grandmother so lovingly was also trying to share with me all those years.
Thank you, Grandma, for sharing your lessons and stories to us grandchildren. And thank you Lisa for sharing your stories about the lessons from your grandmother.
The trip to Disney was magical, but like Lisa said about her magical trip, the biggest golden nugget magical moment was the lesson she learned from her grandmother. For me, was learning the lesson from my grandmother and sharing the stories, lessons, and experiencing this with my children.