Believe in yourself and spread the cheer to others

A teacher decided to honor her students by telling them the difference they each made. So she called each student to the front of the class and told them how the student 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.” She gave each three more ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread the message.

One of the boys went to a junior executive in a nearby company and honoured him for helping him with his career planning. He put a blue ribbon on his shirt and gave him two extra ribbons to honour someone else. The executive went to his boss who was known to be grouchy. He told the boss how he admired him as a creative genius. The executive went on to pin the blue ribbon on his boss’ shirt and gave him an extra ribbon to pass on by honouring somebody else.

That night the boss sat with his 14-year-old son and said, “The most incredible thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of my 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. 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 should honor with this ribbon and I thought about you. I want to honour you.

“My days are 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 at school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just wanted to sit here and 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 child and I love you."

The startled boy started to sob and couldn’t stop crying. He looked up at his father and said through his tear, “I was planning on committing suicide tonight because I didn’t think you loved me."

Don’t be overly emotional, have faith: Life’s greatest magic happens when you believe in yourself. If you keep doubting your sensitivities, you lose trust in yourself, so believe in yourself a little more. Don’t ever give up, keep trying: Don’t allow temporary challenges to bring your spirit down, remember that it may hurt you now, but if you are at it, you will eventually turn out strong. Don’t make things complicated, keep it simple: Life is simple, people complicate it. Often we think that taking the most complicated route is the best way, forgetting that there could be simpler routes and solutions. Don’t always take things seriously, laugh at problems: Sometimes when you look back at life’s serious problems they look too small and silly. So, tap your mind and check if your problems are illusions created by your mind, dust them off and laugh at them. Don’t always act as a grown-up, stay youthful as a child: If there is one distinctive thing about children it is their ability to be happy for no good reason. Don’t ever lose the child in you, things don’t have to be perfect.