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Slime - you can stretch it in different directions and shape it however you want.
Play-Doh - you can stretch and shape it in any direction you want because it's flexible.
Action figures - they can move in different directions; the hands and legs are sometimes connected with rounded joints to allow movement into different poses.
A drinking straw - a straw with a folding, adjustable joint lets us easily turn the tip toward our mouth and drink comfortably.
Do you have a fixed plan that just doesn't work anymore?!When the situation changes but we stick with the same rigid plan, it stops fitting.
The way to think about it: how can we make something rigid become flexible, so it adapts itself to any situation?The more something can change and adapt itself, the more it keeps being useful even when the conditions around it change.
This is true for our mood too - it also changes sometimes - anger, sadness, joy, disappointment, laughter, caring, interest - and we can change it in an instant.
Anthony Robbins (a lecturer, mentor, personal advisor, businessman, and American author, considered one of the most famous and successful mentors in the world)
often says in his workshops "
you can change your mood in the time it takes for a heartbeat"
What that means is that we have the ability to decide that right now we're no longer angry - it can happen in a single moment when we simply decide, act, and change our mood.
Think about little babies - they move between different feelings without noticing at all, so naturally and simply.
When you make them laugh, they laugh, even if a moment ago they were crying loudly and even if something bothered them a lot.
We too, just like little babies, can do this, but for us, unlike them, since we're already grown up and understand what's happening around us, it's sometimes a bit harder to do.
So I invite you to breathe when something simply isn't working, and change it quickly, like a heartbeat.
How do you do it?
Remember the box breathing exercise from principle #2? If not, go back to it
Take a deep breath through your nose (just like smelling a flower)
Wait 4 seconds (count them in your head)
And breathe out through your mouth for 4 seconds (just like you want to blow out birthday candles)
Repeat this a few times and think about what you want to feel right now.
This way you can change your mood in seconds.
Feel free to try it and let me know how it went for you :)
Ready for a challenge? We've prepared some extra challenges for you to tryNow it's your turn to invent. Design your own flexible object that knows how to adapt itself to several different situations.
Easy1. Find another flexible object at home together, and try out together all the shapes you can give it.
2. Ask your child when in the last week they felt like their plan needed to change suddenly.
A bit of a stretch3. Choose a weekly savings plan together, and agree on what happens if one week it doesn't quite work out.
4. Check together with your child how it feels to plan something rigid in advance, compared to leaving room in it for change.
Challenge for champions5. Ask your child to design a piece of furniture or a bag that changes shape depending on need - morning versus evening, summer versus winter.
6. Try thinking together about a fixed habit that doesn't really work anymore, and plan a more flexible version of it.