See Also:
Beginning of a FAMOUS Hero: The Abigail Adams Story.
Life Lesson #71 – Don’t Be a Know it All.
Maria sat right in front of her best friend in class, and they were both very good students. But now a problem had begun. Whenever Mrs. Newton gave back graded papers, Maria’s friend would compare her grade to Maria’s. Whenever Maria made a higher grade than she did, the girl would say something really ugly to Maria. But when her own grade was higher than Maria’s, she would actually laugh at Maria and tease her.
Then one morning, Mrs. Newton was returning to her desk after passing out the math test from the day before. She had just turned around and faced the class again when she saw the girl hit Maria in the back! Maria had made an A on the test, and her friend had made a B.
“Girls, what’s the problem here?” Mrs. Newton asked. “I can’t believe I just saw you hit Maria! What would make you do such a thing?” She continued talking as she walked over to the girl. “I know that you know that HEROES are HELPFUL, not hurtful, but you’ve chosen instead to be hurtful to your friend. You should be HELPING each other and encouraging each other.”
Well, the girl suddenly realized if she just concentrated on doing her own personal best, she wouldn’t need to compare herself with Maria. So that very minute, she apologized, and she really meant it. She also decided that very minute to always say kind words and do HELPFUL things instead of hurting other people with her unkind words and actions. She decided that very minute, and from that time forward, to become a HERO instead.
– Jim Lord