What Are You Worth?

A professor was talking to his class about the lessons in life, when he took out a dollar note from his pocket and asked if anybody wants it. The entire class put up their hands eagerly without a moment's hesitation. He folded it once and asked again, and as expected everyone raised their hands once more.

The professor then folded the dollar note into a small square and asked, "does anyone still wants this dollar note?" The entire class was waving their hands in the air by now, clamoring to be the lucky recipient of the money.

He unfolded the note carefully, and crushed it tightly into a small ball. "How about this? Everybody still wants this lump of paper?" The students shouted, "yes! We still want it!"

The professor dropped the note on the floor and stomped on it with all his might, while the class watched on in silence. "How about now? You guys still want it?"

Before the class could react, a student shouted, "yeah I want it! It's still money!" The professor picked up the note and handed to the student. He turned back to the rest of the class to explain the moral of the lesson.

"Many times in life, you'd be crushed and stomped upon by others. Without a strong sense of self worth, you might end up feeling small and worthless like a lump of paper. But no matter what I did to the dollar bill, all of you recognized its worth as a dollar, so it retained its value even as I abused it to the core."

"Never depend on others to determine your value - know your own worth. No matter how much others try to crush you, you will always know what you are capable and worthy of. Just like the dollar bill, the outside appearance will never diminish your true value."