Let’s Play A Game
Hello, Wildcat Families!
Happy March! Also, how is it already March? It’s still cold BUT I’m glad that we’re ONE month closer to warmer weather. Holla!
Speaking of “glad,” I may be showing my age a little but who has seen the movie “Pollyanna”? Anyone? It was my absolute favorite movie as a child. I googled it today because I was curious how long ago it had been filmed. In 1960, if you’re also curious. That was decades before I was born so it was outdated even when I was a kid, but I LOVED it. Pollyanna is a little girl who is able to find something to be glad about when she finds herself (or others) in disappointing situations. She does this by playing the “Glad Game.”
This movie taught me how to look for something positive when I face disappointing situations. And of course I’ve used this my entire life because as we all know, sometimes life hands us lemons.
In case you haven’t seen it, I’ll give you an example of how the “Glad Game” works. Imagine you’re 9 years old and are invited to your best friend’s birthday party but the party gets canceled because that best friend gets the flu. What a bummer! The party is canceled! My day is ruined! Here’s our chance to play the game. Is there ANYTHING in this situation we can think of to be glad about??
Take a look at the ideas I came up with. We could be thankful that: we have a best friend; that our friend has someone to take care of him/her when they’re sick; and that we aren’t sick (that’s a little on the line but it’s okay to be thankful for our health!).
See how this works? There’s something disappointing but we challenge ourselves to look for something to be glad about. Why? Because that helps us keep moving forward!
Upon googling “Pollyanna”, I was disappointed to see all the negativity surrounding the movie - how it didn’t age well, comments about toxic positivity, how terrible it is that aunt Polly has so much influence, etc. Ironically, these writers are completely missing the heartbeat of the movie.
This game doesn’t teach us that it’s wrong to grieve or be disappointed. On the contrary, at the end of the movie (spoiler alert), Pollyanna faces a devastating situation in her life. She has to endure deep sadness and discouragement. She finds herself uncharacteristically sad and not wanting to think of anything that is good. Sometimes in life, that’s necessary.
I believe we learn a very deep and important life lesson from this Disney movie. We learn that we will experience difficult times - from minor to major - throughout our lives. We can take moments to be disappointed and time to grieve but then we keep going. For those of us who are older, we’ve most likely experienced a death in the family. I remember losing my first, close family member. It took me some time but I eventually found something “glad” in the experience of losing a loved one. It taught me how to grieve with and show empathy to others going through deep loss. Yes! We grieve and this is a part of life. Yet we don’t get stuck in the grief forever because the hard things in life don’t have to break us! Grieve as you must, but then… THEN find something you can take hope in and be glad about!
As a young child, I didn’t have to understand the “Glad Game” to the extent of deep grieving. Yet practicing this game during those “minor” disappointing times in life helped me develop the skill for when I would someday experience the “major” disappointments in life.
I hope you find this “Glad Game” inspirational and chat with your kiddos about playing the game!
In an age when kids see so much negativity, I find myself hoping that we can teach our young Wildcats to see silver linings in the darkest of storms because no matter what they face, there is always, always hope! If we can look for and find something good, we can find hope. And when we have hope, we can make it through anything life throws at us.
I’m glad for YOU! We have the best families and students. Have a great March!!
~ Mrs. Simmons, School Counselor
