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WITandWISDOM(tm) - September 15, 2005 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others. Tryon Edwards ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: WHO I AM MAKES A DIFFERENCE® ORIGINAL STORY By: Helice "The Spark" Bridges As featured in the Chicken Soup For The Soul- Story was made into a television movie that aired nationwide on PAX TV A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her high school seniors for the difference they made in her life. 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 gave each of the students three more ribbons to acknowledge others, to see what impact it would have in their community. They were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom and report back to the class the following week. One of the students honored a junior executive in a nearby company for helping him with his career planning. The student gave him a blue ribbon and put it on his shirt just over his heart. Then the boy gave him two extra ribbons, explained their class project on acknowledgement and enlisted the executive's help. Later that day the junior executive went in to his boss and told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius. 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." After placing the ribbon above his boss' heart, he asked him to support the efforts of the class project and pass on the extra ribbon. That night the grouchy boss went 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 this 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. Next 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, son. 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 or 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 walked over to a drawer, pulled out a gun, stared at his father and, through his tears said, "I was planning on committing suicide tomorrow, Dad, because I didn't think you loved me. Now I don't need to." Copyright © 2003 Helice Bridges - Published in Chicken Soup for the Soul™ Note: The end of this story is slightly different than the one published in Chicken Soup for the Soul. This ending was the original story given to Helice "Sparky' Bridges Please share this story with everyone you know… Imagine…A Blue Ribbon on Every Heart! To Order Blue Ribbons…Call 800-887-8422 or go on-line to http://www.blueribbons.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: AN ARTISTIC PERSONALITY TEST (Just for fun.) On a blank piece of paper draw a pig. It spoils it if you scroll all the way down before sketching. You must not scroll down until you draw your picture. no cheating, now. you will find this more interesting if you draw your picture first! So, on a blank piece of paper draw a pig. Then scroll down and read the interpretation of your pig!! C'mon, Draw your pig first! And don't look at the next part until you are done! It won't be fun if you look first. The pig serves as a useful test of the personality traits of the drawer. If the pig is drawn: TOWARD THE TOP of the paper, you are positive and optimistic. TOWARD THE MIDDLE, you are a realist. TOWARD THE BOTTOM, you are pessimistic, and have a tendency to behave negatively. FACING LEFT, you believe in tradition, are friendly, and remember dates (birthdays, etc.) FACING RIGHT, you are innovative and active, but don't have a strong sense of family, nor do you remember dates. FACING FRONT (looking at you), you are direct, enjoy playing devil's advocate and neither fear nor avoid discussions. With MANY DETAILS, you are analytical, cautious, and distrustful. With FEW DETAILS, you are emotional and naive, you care little for details and are a risk taker. With LESS THAN 4 LEGS SHOWING, you are insecure or are living through a period of major change. With 4 LEGS SHOWING, you are secure, stubborn, and stick to your ideals. The SIZE OF THE EARS indicates how good a listener you are. The bigger the better. Submitted by Alexis van L Maas via Have A Nice Day! e-mail list ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: At my lemonade stand I used to give the first glass away free and charge five dollars for the second glass. The refill contained the antidote. - Emo Phillips Source: Quotes of the Day, http://www.quotationspage.com/qotd.html ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Napoleon hit on the idea of using a semaphore telegraph visual messages from as far as they eye could see and gained a huge advantage over his enemies. He could send a message from Paris to Rome in four hours. Source: "Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts"