Magic Moments
Welcome to the fifty-eighth edition of “In-Touch”. As always, I would love to continue the conversation so so let me know what you think in the comments below.
Story of the Week: “Magic Moments”
Three weeks ago I was in Athens, running a workshop for the management team of Istion Yachting. On arrival at the venue, I met Yannis Bozovits for the first time.
Yannis appeared to have appointed himself as my unofficial assistant and I expected that he would be around until the company’s management team had settled in and I was sure that all my equipment was working properly.
But one thing led to another and Yannis, powered by a genuine eagerness to help out and get things done, quickly became indispensable for the duration of the workshop. At one point, evidently feeling that I trusted him, he suggested a minor change to how I was proposing to conduct an exercise, citing George Papadogoulas, one of his training idols. His advice sounded solid, my gut feeling said, “Go for it” and it worked.
During a break, he told me about his passion for magic tricks and promised that, during our post-workshop dinner, he would perform some. True to his word, he did so, mesmerising the company owner, his colleagues and myself, not only by his stunning magic tricks but by the way held our attention with his eloquent stage patter, which added another dimension to the illusions we were enjoying.
It was a great end to an excellent day and I felt happy to have made the acquaintance of such a helpful, kind and remarkably talented young man. But that wasn’t the end of the Yannis story.
Just as my plane was preparing to land at Larnaca Airport, I saw a member of the Aegean cabin crew walking down the aisle and calling my name. I told her that I was Michael Virardi and it was then that I experienced Yannis Bozovits’ pièce de résistance — not a magic trick this time but a truly magical gesture. The young woman (who later explained that she was Yannis’ girlfriend) handed me a pouch that he had asked her to give to me. Inside it were some homemade jams from one of my favourite places (Costa Navarino), some tea bags which I had tried at the hotel and liked very much, a magic trick with instructions for me to perform, and a touching written note from him.
My late father used to tell me: “You are responsible for the positive memory you leave behind, on a daily basis.” As I looked at my unexpected gift and cast my mind back over the previous day, I realised that Yannis Bozovits had left me an indelible memory. What I can say without hesitation is that he is a remarkable — and magical — human being.
With Marianna after our Aegean flight landed in Larnaca International Airport — Glafcos Clerides
Words of Wisdom
Zig on how to zigzag your way to success
“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
Zig Ziglar
A Question to Ponder, dear friend.
“Have you ever met a remarkable and magical human being? Who was that?”
Best Regards,
Michael R. Virardi
