Who I am Makes a Difference

[Guest guest]

I read this from my archives of good things, and thought we all might want to be

reminded that each of us, pain and all, do make a difference in peoples lives.

Please take the time to read this, we all need a little boost now and then

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" Anyone who believes that happiness is anything but a choice, or that it can

be bestowed or destroyed by another, is denying their own inner power and

missing the opportunity to walk in the sunshine. " --author unknown

WHO I AM MAKES A DIFFERENCE

A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her seniors in high school by

telling them the difference they each made. She called each student to the front

of the class, one at a time. First she told each of them how they had made a

difference to her and the class. Then she presented each of them with a blue

ribbon imprinted with gold letters, which read, " Who I Am Makes a Difference. "

Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project to see what kind of impact

recognition would have on a community. She gave each of the students three more

ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony.

Then they were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom and report back

to the class in about a week. One of the boys in the class went to a junior

executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career

planning. He gave him a blue ribbon and put it on his shirt. Then he gave him

two extra ribbons and said, We're doing a

class project on recognition, and we'd like you to go out find somebody to

honor, give them a blue ribbon, then give them the extra blue ribbon so they can

acknowledge a third person to keep this acknowledgment ceremony going. Then

please report back to me and tell me what happened. " Later that day the junior

executive went in to see his boss, who had been noted, by the way, as being kind

of a grouchy fellow. He sat his boss down and he told him that he deeply admired

him for being a creative genius.

The boss seemed very surprised. The junior executive asked him if he would

accept the gift of the blue ribbon and would he give him permission to put it on

him. His surprised boss said, " Well, sure. " The junior executive took the blue

ribbon and placed it right on his boss's jacket above his heart. As he gave him

the last extra ribbon, he said, " Would you do me a favor? Would you take this

extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody else? The young boy who first

gave me the ribbons is doing a project in school and we want to keep this

recognition ceremony going and find out how it affects people. " That night the

boss came home to his 14-year-old son and sat him down. He said, " The most

incredible thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of the junior

executives came in and told me he admired me and gave me a blue ribbon for being

a creative genius. Imagine. He thinks I'm a creative genius. Then he put this

blue ribbon that says: " Who I Am Makes a

Difference " , on my jacket above my heart. He gave me an extra ribbon and asked

me to find somebody else to honor. As I was driving home tonight, I started

thinking about whom I would honor with this ribbon and I thought about you. I

want to honor you. My days are really hectic and when I come home I don't pay a

lot of attention to you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough

grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just

wanted to sit here and, well, just let you know that you do make a difference to

me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. You're a

great kid and I love you! "

The startled boy started to sob and sob, and he couldn't stop crying. His

whole body shook. He looked up at his father and said through his tears, " Dad,

earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a letter to you and Mom explaining

why I had killed myself and asking you to forgive me. I was going to commit

suicide tonight after you were asleep. I just didn't think that you cared at

all. The letter is upstairs. I don't think I need it after all. " His father

walked upstairs and found a heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain. The

envelope was addressed, " Mom and Dad. " The boss went back to work a changed man.

He was no longer a grouch but made sure to let all his employees know that they

made a difference. The junior executive helped several other young people with

career planning and never forgot to let them know that they made a difference

in his life...one being the boss's son.

And the young boy and his classmates learned a valuable lesson. Who you are

DOES make difference. You are under no obligation to send this on to

anyone...not to two people or to two hundred. As far as I am concerned, you can

delete it and move on to the next message. But if, you have anyone who means a

lot to you, I encourage you to send him or her this message and let them know

You never know what kind of difference a little encouragement can make to a

person. Just smile and know that someone thinks that you are important, or you

wouldn't have received this in the first place. Remember that! I give you a blue

ribbon.

WHO YOU ARE MAKES A DIFFERENCE,

AND I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT

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