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 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.”

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.

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.

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.

His 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. The teenager who gave me these is doing a school project, and we want to keep this ribbon ceremony going and see 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. 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. 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 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.”

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

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.

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.

Please know that I think you are important, or you would not have received this in the first place.

Who you are does make a difference, and I wanted you to know that. I’m passing the blue ribbon to you.

Who I Am Makes a Difference

Have an awesome day, and know that someone has thought about you today!

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

If you have anyone who means a lot to you, I encourage you to send him or her this message and let them know, here is the link you can copy: https://helpfulinspirationalblog.wordpress.com/who-i-am-makes-a-difference/ 

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

God maak nie foute nie

Kort voor Kersfees 2004 word 'n eerstelingseun vir Edwina van Khayelitsha gebore. 'n Pragtige kind, Raemondo. Maar die vreugde duur nie lank nie. Op drie weke ontdek sy ma 'n ongewone klopping in sy keel. Khayelitsha hospitaal verwys hom dadelik na die Rooikruis Kinderhospitaal. Daar vind hul uit hy het ’n ekstra aar wat veroorsaak dat te veel bloed na sy hart gepomp word. Raemondo was nog te klein en hul moes drie maande wag om te opereer. Hy kon eers weer huis toe gaan op vyf maande oud.

Tog is iets nie pluis nie. Raemondo het ’n verskriklike uitslag op sy vel en mettertyd begin die punte van sy vingers en tone pikswart vertoon. Weereens word hy na die Rooikruis Hospitaal gehaas en volg ’n skokkende diagnose - meningokokkale meningitis. Bloedsirkulasie in sy liggaam word beperk en sy ledemate gaan letterlik stukkie vir stukkie dood ...

Raemondo se toestand versleg en hy verval in ’n koma. Op 'n dag vra 'n dokter sy ma: ”Watter kwaliteit .van lewe kan hy nog hê, Mamma? Let him go." Depressie en onsekerheid oorval haar. Tot sy 'n boodskap op Radio Tygerberg hoor: "God maak nie foute nie." Net daar besluit sy: Ek is nie in beheer van sy lewe nie. Raemondo het aangehou veg en die lang pad van operasies en amputasies het begin.

”Dit was eers sy voete. Daarna sy handjies. En weer die bene en toe die arms.

Ons het "count” verloor van al die operasies.”

Hy was reeds in graad 2 toe hy sy laaste operasie ondergaan het.

Te midde van alles het Raemondo ontwikkel in ’n gelukkige kind met 'n aansteeklike glimlag. Stilsit was net nooit 'n opsie nie ...

Van kleins af was hy mal oor sport. Eers gholf en later tafeltennis waarvoor hy in 2019 provinsiale kleure verwerf. Toe nooi die Roxy Davis Foundation hom om 'n branderplanksessie by te woon. En daar byt die ”surfing”gogga hom. Soveel so dat hy in die eerstejaar WP-kleure kry! By die Nasionale Para-Branderplank Kampioenskap behaal hy ’n tweede plek. In Desember gaan hy sy 16de verjaardag in Kalifornië vier terwyl hy aan die Wéreldkampioenskap sal deelneem!

Raemondo het sy skoolloopbaan in Astra-skool begin, maar hulle bied net onderrig tot graad 9. Sy ma was vasberade dat hy matriek moet voltooi en Jan Krielskool was boaan die lys. Hier is koshuisgeriewe, verskeie terapeute en spesialispersoneel. Die Jan Kriel Sentrum vir alternatiewe leer stel hom in staat om werksopdragte en huiswerk met sekere konsessies te voltooi - hy skryf immers self met sy "geboude hand!" Veral sy verblyf in die koshuis - met die nodige dissipline wat alle 15-jariges benodig - het ’n groot verskil in sy skoolwerk gemaak.

Sy lewensleuse dryf hom elke dag:

”Never give up. No matter how hard the situation.” 

Bron: Jan Kriel-nuusbrief (Nov. 2022)

The Two Zebras

Along a beautiful enchanted river path, two zebras walk side by side, enjoying the fresh air and tranquillity of each moment.

They are best friends and have been for many years. Both have taken a different lifestyle approach to the main zebra herd, and choose instead to seek enlightenment.

The path twists a turns matching the river it’s following until it comes to a crossing point. It is here our two zebras must cross the river, wading through the current to the other side.

As they start taking their zebra socks and shoes off, suddenly a lion jumps out from the bushes beside them!

“Excuse me,” asks the Lion politely, “but I’m terribly frightened of the water and fast flowing current, would one of you be able to carry me across.”

Without thought or hesitation one of the zebras tells the lion to climb on his back, and hold on tight. With shoes and socks in one hand and a lion on one of the zebra’s backs, the three wade across the river to the safety of the other side.

The lion thanks the zebra and disappears into the undergrowth. The two zebras look at each other for a moment, then carry on wandering along the path, in silence. Once again enjoying the tranquility of each moment.

It turned out that one of our zebra wasn’t enjoying the moment at all. The zebra who hadn’t picked up the lion was beginning to get himself quite worked up about something. Muttering under his breath as they walked, and the more he muttered under his breath, the more he was getting worked up.

Finally he broke the silence, it was too much for him to bare any longer: “Why did you pick that lion up and allow it to climb on your back, are you insane?” He demanded: “Lions eat us for breakfast, lunch and dinner! What were you thinking?” He raged further.

“Brother,” the second zebra calmly replied, “this happened many many miles back, it was I who carried the lion on my back and it was I who placed him down on the other side, over an hour ago. So why, brother, are you still carrying the lion with you?

Moral of The Story:

We all can become obsessed with thoughts running around in our minds, Letting Go is easy to say but sometimes seemingly so difficult too do. To master this vital skill for happiness requires practice and training of the mind. Seeing how we naturally Let Go of our sense impressions, sound, smells, sights, that we have no interest in, as just one example, helps us see the skills needed to truly Let Go.

Author: Dhamma Tāpasā*(Andrew Hallas)

[Click HERE for more stories.]

Fable of the porcupine

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realising the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves, but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions. After a while, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So, they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the warmth that come from the others. This way they were able toe survive.

Moral of the story:

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when everyone learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the others person's good qualities.

Click HERE for more inspirational stories. 

Teach, love, inspire ...