提 要

「自我價值」是人在社會中貢獻群體，而社會與他人隨之作出的肯定。簡單地說，就是自信、自愛、自尊。要建立自我價值，先學著肯定自己，同時也尊重別人的價值。

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

Hands started going up.

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

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 all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still, the hands went into the air.

"My friends, 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 was still worth 20 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 has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special.....don’t ever forget it!"

Building Your Own House

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, "This is your house… my gift to you."

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

Regretfully, life cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your attitude and the choices you make today help build the "house" you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely!

解 說

一位知名的演講者，舉著二十美元的鈔票作為他研討會的開場白。在有兩百名聽眾的房間裡，他問：「誰想要這二十元的鈔票？」

許多手開始舉起。

他說：「我要把這二十元鈔票給你們其中的一個，但先讓我這樣做。他開始搓揉把鈔票弄皺。

然後他問：「誰還想要它呢？」

許多手仍舉在空中。

「好吧。」他說：「如果我這樣做呢？」然後他把鈔票扔在地上，開始用鞋底將它在地板上踩踏磨擦。

他把又皺又髒的鈔票撿起來：「現在誰還想要它？」那些手還是在空中直直地舉著。

「我的朋友們，你們都學到了非常寶貴的一課。不管我對這二十元鈔票做了什麼，你們仍然要它，因為它的價值沒有下降。它仍然值二十美元。」

「在我們的生活中，往往因為我們做的決定及我們所處的環境，都會被摔倒、弄皺、在泥土上磨損。」

「我們會因此覺得自己好像沒有價值，但無論發生了什麼，或即將要發生什麼，你永遠不會失去自己的價值。你很特別……永遠別忘記這件事！」

建自己的房子

一位年長的木匠準備退休。他告訴他的承包商雇主，他計畫離開建築業，與妻子過更悠閒的生活，享受他的大家庭。他會想念每周會領到的薪水，但他想退休，他們的生活應該足夠支付。

承包商很遺憾地看到他的好師傅要離開，並問他是否可以幫忙再建一棟房子。木匠同意了，但沒多大工夫，就可以很容易看出他的心不在工作中。他粗製濫造，而且用劣質材料。如此結束一個專精的職業生涯，令人遺憾。

當木匠完工後，他的雇主來檢查房子。然後他把大門鑰匙交給木匠說：「這是你的房子......我送你的禮物。」

木匠很震驚！

多可惜啊，如果他早知道是建造自己要住的房子，他就會以完全不同的方式來做。

我們正在一天天創造自己的生活，往往把「不那麼好的事物」投入其中。然後驚訝地發現，我們必須生活在自己造成的後果之中 。如果我們能重新開始，我們會以非常不同的方式來做。

遺憾的是，人生不能倒帶。你就是木匠，每天敲釘子、放板子，或豎起一面牆。有人曾說：「生活是一個自我建設的方案。」你今天的態度和選擇，有助於決定你明天要搬進去生活的「房子」是什麼樣子。因此，謹慎思考要怎麼建！