A teacher in New York decided to honor1 each of her seniors in high school by telling them the difference they each made. Using a process2 developed by Helice Bridges of Del Mar, California, she called each student to the front of the class, one at a time. First she told them how the student made a difference to her and the class. Then she gave each of them a blue ribbon3 imprinted4 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 effect recognition5 would have on a community6. She gave each of the students three more ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony7. Then they were to follow up on8 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 executive9 in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning10. 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 known, by the way, as being kind of a grouchy11 fellow. He sat his boss down and he told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius12. 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 incredible13 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 busy 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 mess14, 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 startled15 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, “I was planning on committing suicide16 tomorrow, Dad, because I didn't think you loved me. Now I don't need to.”
纽约的一位中学老师决定表扬她毕业班的全体学生，说他们不同程度地改变了他人的生活。她采用加州德尔玛地区的赫雷斯 ·布里奇提出的方法，每次叫一个学生到教室前面，全班学生都叫到。首先她告诉大家每位同学对她个人和全班产生了多大的影响。然后她送给每人一条蓝色的缎带，上面印有几个金色大字：“我很重要。”
后来，这位老师决定着手一项全班性工程，看看赞扬他人这一举措会在社会上产生什么反响。她还交给每个学生另三条缎带，指导他们走出去，将肯定他人成绩这一做法推广开来。然后他们还要跟踪结果，看看谁得到谁的赞扬，并在一周之内将情况反馈回班里。
班里有一个男生来到附近的一家公司，走到一位年轻的主管面前，感激他帮助自己制定了一份职业计划。男孩送给他一条蓝色缎带，并将它佩带在他的衬衫上作为荣誉。然后男孩又把另外两条缎带交给他说：“我们班正在开展一项活动：肯定别人的成绩。我们希望你能走出去，去发现值得赞许的人，给他一条蓝色缎带，再将多出的一条缎带交给他，让他赞许第三者，将肯定别人这一做法持续下去。然后请把情况反馈给我，告诉我发生了什么事。”
当天稍后，那位年轻的主管去见他的老板，老板脾气乖戾，人尽皆知。他让老板坐下，称他是一个创意天才，自己很崇拜他。老板显出吃惊的样子。年轻的主管问他是否愿意接受那条蓝色缎带作为礼物，是否允许他为其佩带在身上。吃惊的老板回答说：“噢，当然。”
年轻的主管拿起蓝色缎带，将其佩带在老板胸前的夹克衫上。当他把最后一条缎带交给老板时，他说：“你能帮我一个忙吗？你能把这条缎带传给别人，用它去赞许别人吗？最初将这些缎带交给我的那个小伙子学校里正在开展一项赞许他人的活动，我们想把这个活动一直延续下去，看看对大家会产生什么影响。”
那天晚上，老板回到家，来到14岁的儿子跟前让他坐下。他说：“今天，我遇到了一件很不可思议的事情。我坐在办公室里，一个年轻的主管走进来告诉我说他很崇拜我，说我是一个创意天才，并为此送给我一条蓝色缎带。你想想，他认为我是个创意天才呢！然后他把印有‘我很重要’字样的蓝色缎带佩带在我胸口的夹克衫上。他还另外给了我一条缎带，并请求我另找别人进行赞赏。今晚开车回家时，我就开始考虑，我该用这条缎带去赞许谁？接着我想到了你。我要把这个荣誉送给你。
“这些日子我真的很忙，所以回家后对你关心不够。有时我对你大喊大叫，怪你在学校没有拿高分，怪你把房间弄得一团糟，但今晚不知怎么，我只想好好地坐在这儿，只想让你知道你对我而言有多么重要。除了你妈妈，你就是我生命中最重要的人了。好儿子，我爱你！”
吃惊的儿子开始泣不成声，继而情不自禁大哭起来，全身颤抖不已。他抬起头，泪眼汪汪地看着父亲说：“我原本打算明天就自杀，爸，因为我认为你压根儿不爱我。现在，我没有必要那么做了。”
1. honor v． 给……以荣誉
2． process n． 程序，过程
3． ribbon n． 缎带
4． imprint v． 印字
5． recognition n． 认可
6． community n． 社区
7． acknowledgment ceremony n． 认可仪式
8． follow up on 跟踪
9． junior executive 下级主管
10． career planning 职业规划（书）
11． grouchy adj． 爱发脾气的
12． creative genius 创意天才
13． incredible adj． 不可思议的
14． mess [mes] n． 乱七八糟，一团糟
15． startle v． 使吃惊
16． commit suicide 自杀