There have been more changes in the last century than in any other – though who knows if people living in other times might disagree.  But given the way the recent changes have affected all our roles and goals, it seems like a good idea to think about what to retain and what to learn or change.  Our attitudes, beliefs, principles and values that govern our human interactions are usually slower to change..  In each era or our lives, we are affected by others.  People care for us and help us in infancy, teach us how to think and act as children, adolescents, young, middle-aged (whatever that is) and older adults.

Chores and rewards: at home and in the workplace:

Wherever you may live, there are tasks to be done – some pleasant and some not. People who get together and decide what needs doing and how and when to do things like house work develop a sense of team work that will serve anyone well, wherever life leads them. They also learn useful skills, especially if they exchange roles, doing jobs they like and those they do not. Family or room mate meetings foreshadow staff meetings. Every person in the world of work and play learns to listen and learns to help, understand, respect and appreciate each other when s/he sees the results of the choices made are seen. The rewards are encouragements to go on making efforts to help and succeed. As we develop more and more roles to play at the same time, we are challenged and encouraged to choose and plan for the most important ways to spend our time and resources.

Help is a four letter word

Once I was with an eight-year-old youngster who said something that aggravated her parent. I said: “You know, once when I was a kid and I said a bad word and I didn’t know what it meant – ‘I Got In Trouble’.” The response was an amazed, “That happened to you?”

The point of this story is that even the most personal experiences are universal. We made up a game about thinking up “good” four letter words – words that describe feelings, actions and events like: love, kind, true, help, wise, give, just, fair, join, work, play, care, task, earn, cash, team. path, make. From this point, we created a story using these words.