A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a 20 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 crumple① the 20 dollar note up. He then asked. “Who still wants it？” Still the hands were up in the air.
“Well，” he replied， “what if I do this？” He dropped it on the ground and started to grind② 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， you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money， you still wanted it because it did not decrease③ 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 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 love you. The worth of our lives comes， not in what we do or who we know， but by—Who we are.
You are special—don’t ever forget it.
① crumplev. 弄皱，压皱
② grindv. 碾碎，磨碎
③ decreasev. 减少，减小
二十美元
一个聚集了二百多人的演讲大厅里，一位知名演讲者正在演说，他手执一张二十美元的钞票问大家，“谁想要这张钞票？”
台下人纷纷举手。“我会把这张钞票给你们中的一个人，”演讲者说，“可我得先这么折腾它一下。”
说着，演讲者粗暴地揉折起手里的钞票，尔后他问，“还有人想要这张钞票吗？”台下人仍一个个举起手来。
“行，”他说，“那我这么做了以后呢？”他扔下钞票，踏上脚使劲践踏，拣起来时，钞票已是肮脏破损。“还有人要吗？”
人们依然举起手。
“朋友们，你们都很有价值概念。无论我怎么糟蹋这张钞票，你们还是愿意要，是因为它的价值未贬，仍然是二十美元。
生活中，我们不免会或因自己的决定或因环境的影响而失意、落拓甚至潦倒，感觉自己一无是处。其实，无论已经发生什么或将要发生什么，你自身的价值没有改变。
无论肮脏、干净，还是皱折、平展，对于爱你的人，你始终珍贵无价。生活的价值，不在我们做什么，不在我们认识谁，而在我们是谁。
别忘了，你永远是独一无二的你！