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, "I have been contemplating suicide, Dad, because I
didn't think you loved me. Now I know you care."
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. The young boy and his classmates
learned a valuable lesson.
Who
you are DOES make a difference.
| Authors
Details: Helice Bridges |
|
