B a r b a r a s h e r I l L u s t r a t I o n s b y r a L p h

M
A T E R I A L S
None
D
I R E C T I O N S
Suggest to your teen, “Pay attention throughout the day for five moments
that make you feel good. The moment can be an interaction with some-
one or a thought inspired by something that happened or a sight or a
sound that you thought lovely. What it is doesn’t matter. What matters is
that for at least a moment it made you feel good. I’ll do the same. When
we get together at the end of the day, we’ll share our five good things that
happened.”
Games for Teens
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V
A R I A T I O N S
⽧ High-Low. Instead of noticing five good things, notice both the high of
the day and the low.
⽧ My Story. Ask your teen to write down one of the things that happened
as a short story or vignette. Make a small book and add stories to it over
the years as a kind of autobiography that your child might someday
share with his own children or leaf through when he is older.
W
H A T
’
S
B
E I N G
L
E A R N E D
Teens are learning to pay attention to all the events that happen in a day
and then focus in on the positive aspects by intentionally looking for them.
This game also encourages players to pay attention to how specific
events make them feel.
This activity is a reminder that life contains many kinds of moments.
Often teens get stuck on a negative moment and enlarge its significance,
such as when they hear a criticism and believe that it means they are hope-
lessly hopeless. This game shows young people that good moments are
always part of the mix if they keep a lookout for them.
Getting the Priorities
I heard this story about a professor who was trying to teach his students a
life lesson. He took a clear, narrow-necked vase and filled it with as many
large stones as could fit through the neck. Then he asked his students if the
vase was full. They said it was. “Wrong,” he said, and then filled it with
small pebbles that he shook down until he got in all he could. “Full now?”
he asked. “Yes,” they said. “Wrong,” he countered, and proceeded to fill up
every nook and cranny with fine sand. “Now?” he asked. “Absolutely!” they
replied. Then he poured in some water.
“What’s the life lesson?” he queried.