For my talk I summarized the children's story, You Are Special. (One of my favorites)
One of my favorite conversions in the book is the following: (P.S. The puppet's name is Punichillo but while I gave the talk I called him Ted because that was a lot easier to say over and over again, haha)
“You know my
name?” said Ted
“Of course I do.
I made you.” (This is the woodcarver talking)
The Woodcarver
then picked up Ted and said, “Hmm, it looks like you have a lot of blue dots.”
Ted hangs his
head and says “I didn’t mean to. I really tried hard.”
The Woodcarver
replies; “Oh, you don’t have to defend yourself to me, I don’t care what the
other puppets think.”
You Don’t?
No and you
shouldn’t either. Who are they to give stars or dots; they’re puppets, just
like you. All that matters is what I think and I think you are special.
Me, Special?
Why? I can’t walk fast, I can’t jump high and my paint is peeling.
The woodcarver
replies, “Because you are mine, That’s why you matter to me.”
They continue to
talk more about if Ted decides that what the Woodcarver thinks is more
important than what the other puppets think then the stickers will no longer stay
on. The stickers will only stick if you let them.
As Ted leaves the woodshop the Woodcarver says, Remember, you are
special because I made you. And I don’t make mistakes
I also took several pieces from President Uchtdorf's talk in general conference entitled, You Matter to Him
Check it out: You Matter to Him
NOW! To the actual reason for writing this post:
Below is a quote by C.S. Lewis that I really like and I wanted to put in my talk but it didn't end up having a place in my talk so I thought I would just share it here: It is C.S. Lewis' reminder that every single person you encounter on the street, in the classroom, at the workplace or at home is immortal, in a very real sense.
“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”
I just think it is a cool way of saying that we are all important but also a reminder that if we treat each other like the person they have the potential to become... then we can lift everyone to become those types of people.
