Who I Am Makes a Difference
A teacher in New York decided to honour 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 honoured 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
honoured 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 honour, 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 favour? Would
you take this extra ribbon and pass it on by honouring 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 honour. As I was driving home tonight I started
thinking about whom I would honour with this ribbon and, I thought about you. I
want to honour 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 was planning on committing suicide tomorrow, Dad, because I didn't
think you loved me. Now I know you care. This is the happiest day I've known."
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
bosses son.
And the young boy and his classmates learned a valuable lesson.
Who you are DOES make a difference.