MAKE 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, "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 it 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.

Remember that!

I give you a blue ribbon.