November 2008

What Do You See?

How you look at life affects your ability to be grateful.

Do you focus on what you have or what you do not have? Do you recognize what your coworkers and family members have done for you, or do you take them for granted?

Show appreciation for employers, coworkers, custodians, office assistants, and security guards. Pay special attention to those easily overlooked.

The ultimate test of gratefulness is finding reasons to be thankful during difficult times. When you face a difficult situation, ask yourself what benefits you still enjoy.

Bulletin Subscriber Resources:


Andrew Carnegie 1835-1919

A sailor, Robert Barryman, treated the young Andrew Carnegie to his first root beer soda after the Carnegie family arrived in America from Scotland. Many years later, Carnegie tried to locate Barryman. "I have tried to track him down hoping that...it might be in my power to add to the pleasure of his declining years," Carnegie said.

Work Hard
The Carnegies settled in Pennsylvania, and Andrew started working in a cotton factory at age twelve. At fifteen, he became a messenger boy for the telegraph office, and at age sixteen, he earned a position as a telegraph operator by taking a telegraph message directly rather than translating the Morse code from an imprinted page. He was only the third operator in America with that skill.

Appreciate What You Have
Carnegie looked forward to Saturday afternoons when Colonel James Anderson opened his 400-volume library to local boys. Carnegie said, "...it was when reveling in these precious treasures that I resolved if ever wealth came to me that it should be used to establish free libraries, that other poor boys might receive opportunities similar to those for which we were indebted to that noble man."

Carnegie invested in iron and then steel. Within 30 years of its founding, Carnegie Steel merged with seven other companies and became the first company in the world valued at over $1 billion.

Invest in Others
The day Carnegie retired, he gave away $11.2 million. Some went to build libraries and some went to disability and pension funds for his employees. "I make this first use of surplus wealth upon retiring from business as an acknowledgement of the deep debt I owe to the workmen who have contributed so greatly to my success."

Eventually Carnegie gave another $56 million to build 2,509 libraries. "The man who dies rich," he said, "dies disgraced." By the end of his life, Carnegie had given away everything he had earned.

Bulletin Subscriber Resources:


Gratefulness Tree

Help your children draw a tree trunk and branches on a large piece of paper. Cut leaves from green, yellow, red, or brown paper, and write something for which you are grateful on each leaf. Remember to be grateful whenever you see the tree.

Supplies:

  • Colored paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Crayons or markers

Character in the News

Visit our news page to read the latest news articles about character.