The Blue Ribbon
A teacher did a class project honouring her students. She gave each of them a blue ribbon and told them how they had made a difference to her. Then she gave them three more ribbons and told them to honour other people who made a difference to them and then go back and see what impact it had.
A student went to a junior executive in a nearby company who had helped him with his career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon, thanking him for making a difference. Then he told him about his project and gave him two extra ribbons. “Can you find somebody to honour, give them a blue ribbon and the extra blue ribbon to give to a third person, then please report back to me and tell me what happened."
Later that day the junior executive went in to see his boss, who was a bit grouchy. He told his boss that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius. The boss seemed very surprised. He told his boss about the project, gave him a blue ribbon and the last extra ribbon and told him to pass it on to some-one who made a difference to him.
That night the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and told him, "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. I was thrilled! He gave me an extra ribbon to honour some-one and I want to honour you. I am so busy and I’m not always there for you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough marks in school or for your bedroom being a mess. But I want you to know that you make a big difference to me. Beside 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, he couldn't stop crying. 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, but now I know you care."
We all make a difference, but we don’t always realise this. Who would you like to acknowledge today?
