Balance Over Emotion

GOOD SELF-CONTROL (Section #3) – Week 3 – Instructor’s Script

Start the lesson by gathering your students into a tight huddle and ask these three questions:

What does it mean to have self-control?
Why is it important to have self-control?
Can you give me an example of having self-control?

Then share the following story or lesson and ask the questions listed.

This week we are going to talk about ways to keep from getting in a bad mood. There is an old saying “Concentrate On Your Upset, Lose Your Balance. Concentrate On Your Balance, Lose Your Upset.”

Did you know that it is nearly impossible to be upset and keep your balance while standing on one foot?

Let’s try it!

Pretend you’re mad and then stand on one foot.

Now forget about being mad; only concentrate on balancing.

Which way could you stay balanced on one foot longer? Why?

What will happen is you will either quickly lose your balance and have to put your foot down, or you will concentrate on balancing on one foot and temporarily forget what you were upset about.

The next time you find yourself getting upset, try picking one foot up off the ground and balancing yourself. This won’t instantly change your mood, but it will help you change your focus until the upset has passed.