February 7 2024
Notes by Devank Narayan
Review: Last time we talked about how you should value your relationships more than an object because someone you love is more important than something like an Ipad. There was a story where someone got stuck in a freezer, and a security guard saved them. The RAW from two weeks ago was to say hi or hello to someone at your school you didn’t know. It went on for two weeks.
Story: Long ago, there was a place that was very magical. The only requirement to be there was that you had to be a good person. Two friends, Isha and Jiva, went there for their fortune and wanted to see the magical place. Jiva went first. At first, he went past a few statues.The statues looked so realistic that Jiva thought they might come to life at any second. The thing was, the statues also looked sad. They looked so sad that Jiva himself became sad too. Soon enough though, he decided to move on to the next room. He was faced with two more statues. One of them had a very happy expression, the other one a mad and angry expression. Eventually the statues talked. They were saying that Jiva had to become a statue. Jiva didn’t understand. Then, he felt like his whole body was paralyzed. He couldn’t move, but could still smell, hear, and see. He then realized that he had become a statue, just as the other statues had said. The other friend, Isha, waited a bit, then she also went into the room full of statues that looked so real that they might actually be real. That was what Isha thought. They seemed so real in fact, that she started giving them water. She went back and forth from the fountain giving them water. She soon was overcome with despair, as she could not save the statues. She went to the entrance and found the angry statue. The angry statue asked her a question. Isha’s answer was good enough that they gave her the option to save someone. Isha had already realized the statues were real people, and when she saw Jiva, she decided to save him. As soon as she saved him, the doorway to the magical place opened up. As Isha was walking in, Jiva said no. He said that they still had to do something. He said to Isha that they should save the other people, and let them have a chance to also see the magical place.
Lesson: Jiva had put things above people, thus resulting in him becoming a statue. He then realized that he should save everyone and put people ahead of things. To be a good person, you should be kind and you should think more before you act, like Jiva did as he was a statue. You also should leave a place better than it was before. Living to make sure we do nothing wrong is not a bad thing, but leaving a place better than it was before is much better. You should try to be as good as possible. While Jiva was a statue, he thought a lot about his actions and how to change them, and he did better things as we saw at the end. We have to pay attention more and listen more to do better things. Ants work super hard, carrying stuff bigger than them and swimming across big pools of water with the heavy things they were carrying. This shows how much we can learn by just paying attention to small stuff around us. You could always be learning.
Activity: Think about your favorite value in happy hour. Now imagine that you do that value the entire day. Now imagine the opposite. Think about all the interactions you have, and ask yourself, how would your day be different? Would you still have confidence in yourself that you have friends, or even trust yourself?
RAW:
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Notes By Manav and Viyom Mistry
Review: The man got stuck in the ice cream freezer. Then he thought about things he likes, and they started appearing out of nowhere. Then the security guard opened the door. The security guard remembered about the man, because he always greets him and says goodbye to him every day, and nobody else says goodbye or hello. This shows people and relationships are more important than objects. Raw from last week: Say hi to someone you don’t know. It makes them feel good when you say hi.
Story: Two friends were exploring and trying to find the magical place. It was easy to find, but there was a requirement. You had to be a good person. On the way to the gate the first person saw many statues of people and they looked sad and real. The 1st person felt sad, but he remembered he was there to explore the magical place. There were two stone statues at the gate, one was happy and excited, and the other statue was mad and angry. The guard asked him a question, “What makes you a good person?” When he talked to the guard he said, “I don’t do anything bad to anybody and nobody can say anything bad about me,” then he turned into a statue. The 2nd person touched all the statues and they felt warm like they were alive! The 2nd person felt very sad and wanted to help them. The 2nd person made it through the guards of the magical place and said, “I want to help all the other statues.” Then the angry statue said “You can take 1 statue with you and help it. Then the 1st person says “but we have to get the other statues” so they got all the other people 1 by 1 then explored the magical land together. They also shared all the treasures.
Lesson from the story: Doing nothing wrong doesn’t mean your good. Making the world better means you’re a good person. If you see someone hurt help them then you are good. Inaction doesn’t make you a good person.
Activity: Thinking exercises about what your favorite value is. What happened if you got the opposite?
Raw: Everyday when you see someone being kind you write it down in your notebook.