Teacher Appreciation Week is May 3-7. If you are looking for a wonderful gift for your child’s teacher, a teacher from your past, or a mentor who has changed your life, why not consider The Simple Truths of Appreciation-How Each of Us Can Choose to Make a Difference* by Barbara Glanz?
Enjoy this story, excerpted from The Simple Truths of Appreciation:
“THE TEACHER STORY: The Life Changing Gift of Appreciation”
Barbara writes:
“As I speak about appreciation, I use this quote by Albert Schweitzer:
‘Sometimes our light goes out but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.’
Then I ask my audiences to please shut their eyes and think about someone, who at some time in their lives, has rekindled their inner light. I leave the room in silence for several minutes, and it is always a profound experience as they remember the JOY they received from being appreciated by someone when they needed it the most.
Afterwards, I ask them to write down the name of the person they thought of and to commit to their own act of appreciation letting that person know in the next 72 hours that he or she was thought of. I suggest a phone call, a note, or even a little prayer if they are no longer living.
After one moving session, a gentleman came up to talk with me and thanked me for creating a new awareness in him. He said he thought of his eighth grade literature teacher because she was everyone’s favorite teacher, and had really made a difference in all of their lives. He planned to track her down and let me know what happened.
One afternoon nearly two and a half months later I received a call from him. He was choked up on the phone he could hardly get through his story. He said that it had taken him nearly two months to track his teacher down, and when he finally found her, he wrote to her.
The following week he received this letter:
Dear John,
You will never know how much your letter meant to me. I am 83 years old, and I am living all alone in one room. My friends are all gone. My family’s gone. I taught 50 years and yours is the first “thank you” letter I have ever gotten from a student. Sometimes I wonder what I did with my life. I will read and reread your letter until the day I die.
He just sobbed on the phone. He said, “She is always the one we talk about at every
reunion. She was everyone’s favorite teacher- we loved her! But no one had ever told
her… until she received his letter.”
Our teachers, parents, employers, and other mentors love to hear about the difference they have made in our lives. Keep them in mind during Teacher Appreciation Week, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day this year. Send them a copy of The Simple Truths of Appreciation as a small token of thanks for changing your life!
*The Simple Truths of Appreciation now includes a free 3-minute DVD with purchase of the book!
Order now through May 31 and receive the special sale price, book plus DVD for only $12 plus shipping/handling!
To order, click here.
