Graham
Well-Known Member
I got this of a friend today,,,,,,
Too Busy for a Friend.....
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other
students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each
name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each
of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and
as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a
separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that
individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire
class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I
meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,'
were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they
discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The
exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with
themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in
Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She
had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before.. He looked so
handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took
a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the
coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to
her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he
said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a
luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak
with his teacher.
'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of
his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you
might recognize it.'
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook
paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The
teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had
listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see,
Mark treasured it.'
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled
rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer
of my desk at home.'
Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'
'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her
wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this
with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she
continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and
for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will
end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special
and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
And One Way To Accomplish This Is: Forward this message on. If you do not
send it, you will have, once again passed up the wonderful opportunity to
do something nice and beautiful.
If you've received this, it is because someone cares for you and it means
there is probably at least someone for whom you care.
If you're 'too busy' to take those few minutes right now to forward this
message on, would this be the VERY first time you didn't do that little
thing that would make a difference in your relationships?
The more people that you send this to, the better you'll be at reaching
out to those you care about.
Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others
comes back into your own..
Too Busy for a Friend.....
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other
students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each
name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each
of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and
as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a
separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that
individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire
class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I
meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,'
were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they
discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The
exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with
themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in
Vietnam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She
had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before.. He looked so
handsome, so mature.
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took
a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the
coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to
her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he
said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a
luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak
with his teacher.
'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of
his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you
might recognize it.'
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook
paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The
teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had
listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see,
Mark treasured it.'
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled
rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer
of my desk at home.'
Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'
'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her
wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this
with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she
continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and
for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will
end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special
and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
And One Way To Accomplish This Is: Forward this message on. If you do not
send it, you will have, once again passed up the wonderful opportunity to
do something nice and beautiful.
If you've received this, it is because someone cares for you and it means
there is probably at least someone for whom you care.
If you're 'too busy' to take those few minutes right now to forward this
message on, would this be the VERY first time you didn't do that little
thing that would make a difference in your relationships?
The more people that you send this to, the better you'll be at reaching
out to those you care about.
Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others
comes back into your own..
