During a televised speech before an audience of 6,000, Zig Ziglar was asked what advice he had for encouraging a negative pessimistic son. You could’ve heard a pin drop.
Ziglar left the stage and walked right up to the man. He dropped to one knee, speaking directly. Zig told the man that when he got home that evening to walk into his son’s room, sit on the edge of his bed, and tell him how grateful he was to be his dad. That he couldn’t believe God entrusted him with a son like this, and that he loved him dearly.
Ziglar continued, telling the dad to do this every morning as his child wakes up and every night before he goes to bed. Just pour out gratitude and love on him and don’t stop, do not just do this for a few days, make this a habit and commit to it and watch his child change.
The cameras panned the audience, tears flowing down cheeks of young and old. A guest of Zig Ziglar’s family happened to be sitting right next to his son. He too had tears streaming down his face. At the time Zig’s son was in his 40’s. He asked him, “Did your dad do that with you?” The son answered, “Every day of my life and still does it today. If not in person, because we don’t live together, he calls me to tell me how grateful he is to be my dad.”