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A teacher in New York decided to
honor each of her seniors in high school by telling them the difference
each of them had 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.” |
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Afterwards, the teacher decided
to do a class project, to see what kind of impact recognition would have
on a community. |
She gave each student three more
blue 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
to the class in about a week. |
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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 for you to go out, find some one to honor, and give them a
blue ribbon. |
Later that day, the junior
executive went in to see his boss, who had a reputation of being kind of
a grouchy fellow. He told
him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius. |
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The boss seemed very surprised.
The junior executive asked him if he would accept the gift of the
blue ribbon, and give him permission to put it on him. |
The boss said, “well, sure.”
The junior executive took one of the blue ribbons and placed it
right on his boss’s jacket, above his heart. |
And then he asked, offering him
the last ribbon, “Would you take this extra ribbon, and pass it on by
honoring somebody else?” |
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The teenager who gave me these is
doing a school project, and we want to keep this ribbon ceremony going
and se how it affects people.” |
That night, the boss came home
and sat down with his 14-year-old son.
He said, “the most incredible thing happened to me today.” |
I was in my office, and one of my
employees came in and told me he admired me, and gave me a blue ribbon
for being a creative genius. |
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Imagine!
He thinks I am a creative genius!
Then he put a blue ribbon on me that says, “Who I Am Makes a
Difference.” |
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 who I
would honor with this ribbon, and I thought about you.
I want to honor you. |
My days are hectic and when I
come home, I don’t pay a lot of attention to you.
I yell at you for not getting good enough grades and for your
messy bedroom. |
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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. |
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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 took my life, and I
asked 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’ll need it after all.”
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His father walked upstairs and
found a heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain. |
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The boss went back to work a
changed man. He was no
longer a grouch, but made sure to let all of his employees know that
they made a difference. |
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The junior executive helped many
other young people with career planning, one being the boss’ son, and
never forgot to let them know that they made a difference in his life. |
In addition, the young man and
his classmates learned a valuable lesson: |
“Who
you are DOES make a difference.” |