$20

I received this in an email today. And while I'm not one of those people who normally passes on email messages, I did think that this message speaks to all of us, and particularly those suffering from the aftermath of childhood abuse.


A well-known speaker started off his seminar by: holding up a $20.00 bill In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"
Hands started going up.

He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this. He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill .

He then asked, "Who still wants it?"
Still the hands were up in the air.

Well, he 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 picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.

"Now, who still wants it?"

Still the hands went into the air.

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.

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 has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased,
you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.
The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know,
but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE.
You are special - Don't EVER forget it."

If you do not pass this on, you may never know the
lives it touches, the hurting hearts it speaks to,
or the hope that it can bring.
Count your blessings, not your problems.

"And remember: amateurs built the ark ....
professionals built the Titanic.
If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it.
Pass this message to 7 people except you and me.
You will receive a miracle tomorrow.


I might add that while normally I find the "pass it on" portions of emails are usually a lot of bunk! But I believe the message here is worth its weight in gold.

I know from personal experience that helping fellow man find a way through the difficulties of life is in and of itself a miracle. There is no greater joy than extending a hand to someone who is down or being able to share a ray of hope with someone lost in darkness.

Surviving horrendous child abuse is not some badge of courage or what has made me who I am today. It is the journey of recovery, the people who have touched me and the lives that I have touched along the way that have most influenced my life.

Without people supporting me in my journey, I never would have come out of the darkness that was killing me. I may have engineered my own treatment but people to believe me and in me were indeed the miracles that made my recovery possible.

So pass this message on to any and all. Undoubtedly it will reach those who need it most and serve as a ray of hope. Hope is, after all, the lifeline that can pull anyone from the abyss.