
In a school classroom, a student playfully taped a piece of paper with the words “I’m an Idiot” on his classmate’s back.
He then asked the rest of the class to keep it a secret, which caused some laughter among the students.
In the afternoon, math class began, and the teacher put a challenging question on the board.
To everyone’s surprise, the only one who could solve it was the boy with the sticker.
Amidst the unexplained laughter, he confidently approached the board and answered the question.
The teacher, impressed, asked the class to applaud and told him to take the paper off his back.
She then said to him, “It seems that you don’t know about the paper your classmate has stuck to your back.”
Addressing the entire class, the teacher said, “Before I consider any punishment, I would like to share two important lessons with you.
First, throughout your lives, people will use hurtful words to label you and impede your progress.
If your classmate had known about the paper, he might not have volunteered to answer the question.
In life, all you have to do is ignore the labels people put on you and take every opportunity to learn, grow, and improve.”
“Second, it’s not about the number of friends you have; it’s about the loyalty and support they give you.
It’s obvious that he doesn’t have a loyal friend among all of you who would have told him about the sticker.
If you don’t have friends who can defend you behind your back, look out for you, and truly care about you, it’s better to be alone.”
Moral of the story
In life, ignore the labels people give you and take every opportunity you have to learn, grow and improve yourself.