A well-known speaker started off his seminar holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it...?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, YOU are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE. You are special-Don't EVER forget it."
A friend of mine put that on facebook. I for one love it.
As a addict there are times that you feel worthless, cracked, unlovable and "dirty".
But we are not, we have the tools to get clean and live a better way of life. Just because our past decisions were not good ones does not make our lives any less valuable.
I have learned from my life back then, if it wasn't for the bad that I went though I could not enjoy the today that I have that is so much better.
People are going to judge you, people are going to criticize your way of life, people are going to say that you are worthless and put you down for being an addict (or whatever you are) but it is up to you to believe it or not. It is up to you to rise above what they think and show them who you are.
You are special and priceless. The valve of your life does not decrease if you don't let it.
I was at a conference and the speaker did that exact same thing. It was a few years ago and I didn't raise my hand because I thought it was a trick question! DUH!
ReplyDeleteI loved it too! I haven't been on the blogs much and I am trying to catch up right now. I am SO, SO PROUD of you to have this long. B has 5 months now but it is still a huge struggle for him and I fear it isn't over, but he is still doing what he is supposed to. I hope it clicks with him soon or before he is done with Drug Court in October. He just turned 21 which presents a new set of issues. Congratulations again Brandi. I always think of you and how wonderful you were to take your time and send him a letter when he was in jail. I know he has never thanked you, but he still has it.