Excerpt from
The Simple Truths of Appreciation,
by Barbara Glanz
My friend, Bob Danzig, has an amazing story. Simple words of appreciation
and encouragement changed his life. Bob was in five foster homes during his
youth, and said he spent his childhood trying to find someone to love and
appreciate him.When he was nine years old, he had a new social worker. He said after she
had done all the paperwork to move him to yet another foster home, she sat
him down, looked him directly in the eyes, and said, "Bobby, I want you to
always remember these words: YOU ARE WORTHWHILE!"Bob says that no one had ever said anything like that to him, and each time
they met, she repeated those words. They became an affirmation of
appreciation that he heard over and over again in his head.Bob graduated at sixteen, not because he was smart, he says, but because he
got mixed up in the system!He soon took a job at the Albany New York Times as a copy boy, and his very
first boss was a woman named Margaret. After he had worked there about six
months, Margaret called him into her office one day and asked him to sit
down. He thought for sure he was going to be fired! She looked him right in
the eyes and said to him, "I have been the office manager for 15 years - I
have been observing you - and I believe YOU ARE FULL OF PROMISE." Those
words, on that day, gave him permission to aspire.Those two positive messages of appreciation played over and over again in
his head and ultimately gave him the courage to be the very best he could
be. Sixteen years later he became the Publisher of the Albany New York
Times, and seven years after that, he became CEO of Hearst Newspapers, one
of the largest newspaper companies in the world; and he credits it all to
those simple words of appreciation and love. What a wonderful example of how
little gifts of appreciation can make such a difference in a life!
The Simple Truths of Appreciation,
by Barbara Glanz
My friend, Bob Danzig, has an amazing story. Simple words of appreciation
and encouragement changed his life. Bob was in five foster homes during his
youth, and said he spent his childhood trying to find someone to love and
appreciate him.When he was nine years old, he had a new social worker. He said after she
had done all the paperwork to move him to yet another foster home, she sat
him down, looked him directly in the eyes, and said, "Bobby, I want you to
always remember these words: YOU ARE WORTHWHILE!"Bob says that no one had ever said anything like that to him, and each time
they met, she repeated those words. They became an affirmation of
appreciation that he heard over and over again in his head.Bob graduated at sixteen, not because he was smart, he says, but because he
got mixed up in the system!He soon took a job at the Albany New York Times as a copy boy, and his very
first boss was a woman named Margaret. After he had worked there about six
months, Margaret called him into her office one day and asked him to sit
down. He thought for sure he was going to be fired! She looked him right in
the eyes and said to him, "I have been the office manager for 15 years - I
have been observing you - and I believe YOU ARE FULL OF PROMISE." Those
words, on that day, gave him permission to aspire.Those two positive messages of appreciation played over and over again in
his head and ultimately gave him the courage to be the very best he could
be. Sixteen years later he became the Publisher of the Albany New York
Times, and seven years after that, he became CEO of Hearst Newspapers, one
of the largest newspaper companies in the world; and he credits it all to
those simple words of appreciation and love. What a wonderful example of how
little gifts of appreciation can make such a difference in a life!
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