Choices

Aug. 7

Today we played in the paint! We painted the box for the lasagna garden, and the choice for color was....a mix!                                                       The preferred choice for painting...spray paint.                                                                                                                                                                                            We were a small crew, but the painting got done quickly...and with no paint on each other!

                                                                                                       The hardest part was working in the sunflowers to get the north side of the box painted.                                                                                                                                                                                                 When it was done, it was fun to see how much it brightened up that part of the garden

Since the box got done so quickly we had a chance to finally paint some tire planters that didn't get done last year.

In the afternoon we had some hard rain, but it didn't affect the paint, so we were ready to go for the ice cream social in the evening.

After the painting we played a game called "Would You Rather". The game consists of statements in which each person has a choice to make. Some are easy, some difficult, some serious and some funny. A couple of examples are:

"Would you rather be invisible or be able to fly?"

"Would you rather dress like your parents or act like your parents?"

Most of the statements lead to explanations, discussion and many times, laughter.

After "Would You Rather" we talked about choices we make in relationships. We talked about the value of making some basic choices, or setting your boundaries, before a situation comes up in a relationship. It's easier to make some of those choices when you have time to think it through, and maybe talk about it with someone else. Then, in the pressure of the moment you don't have to be struggling to weigh pros and cons. 

We talked about anger and the fact that it is an emotion that is part of being human. Every one gets angry sometimes, what makes a difference is the choice you make in how you act as a result. It's been said that anger is an emotion, violence is a choice. If someone makes the choice to be violent it is their responsibility, not the responsibility of the person they act violently toward. 

When a person you are in a relationship becomes violent, you have choices to make, too, to keep yourself safe. 

Here's a great, easy to read list of choices a person can make about how to handle anger:

 http://www.phoenix-society.org/downloads/resources/uses_for_anger_20130520_125233_22.pdf