This is a lovely piece.

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
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, "Dad,earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a letter to
you and Mom explaining why I had killed myself and asking 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 need it after all."
His father walked upstairs and found a heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain. The envelope was addressed,
"Mom and Dad."
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 in his life....one being the boss's son.

And the young boy and his classmates learned a valuable lesson. Who you are DOES make difference.
You are under no obligation to send this on to anyone...not to two people or to two hundred. As far
as I am concerned, you can delete it and move on to the next message. But if, you have anyone who means a
lot to you, I encourage you to send him or her this message and let them know. You never know what kind of
difference a little encouragement can make to a person..

Send it to all of the people who mean anything important to you, or send it to the one, two, or three
people who mean the most. Or just smile and know that someone thinks that you are important, or you wouldn't
have received this in the first place. Remember that!I give you a blue ribbon.

WHO YOU ARE MAKES A DIFFERENCE,AND I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT . . .

The Law of the Garbage Truck

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? For an instant you're probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she can get back her focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson.

I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab.

Here's what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.

And I mean, he was friendly.

So, I said, 'Why did you just do that?

This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

Many people are like garbage trucks.

They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.

As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it.

And if you let them, they'll dump it on you.

When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.

You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.

You'll be happy you did.

So this was it: The 'Law of the Garbage Truck.'

I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me?

And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets?

It was that day I said, 'I'm not going to do it anymore.'

I began to see garbage trucks.

Like in the movie 'The Sixth Sense,' the little boy said, 'I see Dead People.'

Well, now 'I see Garbage Trucks.'

I see the load they're carrying.

I see them coming to drop it off.

And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field.

He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled.

He never dwelled on a hit.

Payton was ready to make the next play his best.

Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting.

Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses.

Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

What about you?

What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here's my bet.

You'll be happier.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so..

Love the people who treat you right.

and it may be hard, but Love the ones who don't.

Believe that everything happens has some kind of a reason.

If you get a chance , TAKE IT!

If it changes your life , LET IT!

The Lord didn't say it would be easy.

He just promised us it would be worth it.

The Law of the Garbage Truck

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? For an instant you're probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly she can get back her focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson.

I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab.

Here's what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.

And I mean, he was friendly.

So, I said, 'Why did you just do that?

This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

Many people are like garbage trucks.

They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.

As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it.

And if you let them, they'll dump it on you.

When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.

You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.

You'll be happy you did.

So this was it: The 'Law of the Garbage Truck.'

I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me?

And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets?

It was that day I said, 'I'm not going to do it anymore.'

I began to see garbage trucks.

Like in the movie 'The Sixth Sense,' the little boy said, 'I see Dead People.'

Well, now 'I see Garbage Trucks.'

I see the load they're carrying.

I see them coming to drop it off.

And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field.

He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled.

He never dwelled on a hit.

Payton was ready to make the next play his best.

Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting.

Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses.

Leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present, and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day.

What about you?

What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here's my bet.

You'll be happier.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so..

Love the people who treat you right.

and it may be hard, but Love the ones who don't.

Believe that everything happens has some kind of a reason.

If you get a chance , TAKE IT!

If it changes your life , LET IT!

The Lord didn't say it would be easy.

He just promised us it would be worth it.