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(A story from an unknown, but very wise author)
Your Priceless Worth: What the Value of a $20-Bill Can Teach Us About Our Own Value
A well-known speaker began one of his seminars by holding up a $20.00 bill. In a room of nearly 200 people, the speaker asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?” As you can imagine, about 200 hands went up. The speaker continued by saying… “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.”
He then proceeded to crumple up the $20 bill. The man then asked, “Who still wants it?” Still, 200 hands went back up in the air.
“Well,” the speaker 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 then picked it up—now crumpled and dirty— and asked… “Now, who still wants it?” Still, the hands went up.
The speaker then began to deliver the moral of his story. “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.”
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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 happens, no matter what already has happened, and no matter what will happen in the future… none of us will ever lose our value as a person.
A $20-bill might get walked on, it might get stepped on. That bill might feel put down and neglected. It might feel hurt and upset. It might go through tough times and feel down, discouraged, and even worthless. But, no matter what happens to it, deep down on the inside, that $20-bill still possesses the same worth that it began its life with. No matter what it looks like, no matter what has happened to it, and no matter what other people think of it, that $20-bill still has the same value that it always had.
It’s still worth $20.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or neatly-folded, stepped on or straightened: you are still a priceless human being. After all, your worth as a person comes not from what you have, what you do, what you look like, or who you know. Your worth comes from who you are.
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