I watch you from the age when you enter school until the day you leave school, and I see you judge yourself according to your academic and sporting success or failure.

I see you saddened because you struggle with maths, or english or sports. I see you think of yourself as lesser because you don’t have the easy ability in these areas that some other children seem to have.

And I want to say that I am sorry we adults have created a world in which you feel that these are the correct scales against which to judge yourself.

We are absolutely and totally wrong!

I would like to talk to you about a new set of scales against which I ask you to weigh yourself. This is a true scale.

In this world we have all kinds of jobs, and for some of them a high level of education is needed. The fact that those jobs often come with the highest salaries have made people think that those are the best jobs and that all people should aspire to those kinds of jobs.

Think about what would happen if all children were equally skilled academically. What would happen? We would end up with a world full of people with lots of educational qualifications, unable to get jobs because there were too many qualified people and not enough of the jobs. And also a world full of people not doing what they are passionate about, hence a world of unhappy people.

You are, each and every one of you, perfectly suited to what is right for you, and since we need a world with all sorts of people doing all sorts of jobs we need you JUST as you are. You are perfect.

One day my car is going to break down and I am not going to have a clue how to fix it, If you are the person who has the skills and talent with car engines and can fix my car for me, you will be my hero! But what if you had gone off and trained to be a doctor because you were told that was a better job and you could earn more money? Who would fix my car? And if you really loved to fix cars, would you be happy as a doctor? Don’t do a job because of the salary, do it because you love the work.

Whether you have a big flash house, or a small house, a new car or an old car, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that you are happy, and that you are a good person.

So, back to this scale I talked about.

Do you try hard at school, in everything you do?

Are you kind and caring to other people?

That’s it. That the scale. If you measure well against that, if you try your hardest in all that you do and if you are kind to other people and helpful, then you are one of the most successful people in the world. It is the simplest scale and it is the truest scale.

If you are selfish, mean, cruel to others, if you can’t be bothered trying at anything you do, if you laugh at the efforts of other people, if you make fun of people who are different in any way, if you don’t do anything to help other people, if you are uncaring towards other people, you are not a success. Whether you have trophies to say you did well in this sport or that sport, or certificates to say you scored well in this or that, or if you have a big house, a new car, a flash suit, expensive jewelry, does not matter. If you have all those things and you are a good person, then that is something to be proud of!

When I meet a millionaire the only thing I want to know is what kind of person he is. I don’t care about anything else.

So, children of the world, you have within you the ability to reach greatness, and it is not reached through academic ability, sporting ability or inheritance, it is reached through your own efforts to be the best person you can be. If you can reach that greatness then you are my hero and you will be one of the most successful people in the world.

Don’t let the adults get you down. Don’t listen to them when they try to make you feel that you have failed in some way. You keep MY scale in your heart and you follow that. Teachers are just people, and sometimes even they get it wrong. Some teachers forget that their lack of encouragement and support can hurt a child.

MY scale. You keep that in your heart and mind, and know that you are terrific beyond words!

Repeat after me: I AM PERFECT AS I AM!

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