The Lesson of Self-Worth and the Twenty Dollars

One of our lessons in Think First and Stay Safe dealt with self-esteem.  During the discussion I showed the class a crisp $20 dollar bill and asked “Who would like the $20 bill?”  Hands immediately went up.  I proceeded to crumple the twenty dollar bill.  Again I asked “Who still wants it?”  Still the hands were up in the air.  “Well,” I replied, “what if I do this?”  I dropped it on the floor and ground it into the floor with my shoe.  I picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.  “Now who still wants it?”  Still the hands went into the air.  I asked, “why?”  One child told me it was still worth $20.

“Children, you 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 is still worth twenty dollars.  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 happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.”

I then ripped the $20 bill in half.  The class still knew that it was worth the same amount.  They told me that tape would fix it.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, ripped or taped together we are still priceless to those who love us.  The money can be replaced; we on the other hand are irreplaceable.  The worth of our lives comes, not in what we do or who we know, but by --- WHO WE ARE.

We are special – don’t ever forget it.