Prince Anir

Now I apologise if any of you have followed the link at the edge of my blog to my bit that was on Mike Fleetham's website because the following can be found there and you would have already seen it. However, I am hedging my bets that nobody has and so I bring it here, because I love it as an activity (even if I do say so myself *blush*).....

Are you sitting comfortably?

Prince Anir
Once upon a time their lived a prince who had everything anyone could possibly want; that is anything that could be bought with money. He lived in a big castle, drove a fast car, had a tonne of toys, televisions and computers and he slept in a beautifully designed bedroom with matching duvet cover, carpet and curtains. He also had servants that did all the boring, messy and nasty jobs for him.

However, despite all these things, Anir was not a happy person. He was also not a very kind person. He often threw his things across the room in a fit of rage, shouted at the servants and insisted that he only do exactly what he wanted to do at all times. He also claimed that he was always bored. Nothing and nobody interested him.

One day, Anir was lying on his bed pulling the legs off ladybirds, when a strange noise startled him. It appeared to be coming from outside, so he rushed across to the window. Just as he reached the edge of his designer curtains, a bright flash of white and silver light filled the room. As Anir stood with his mouth wide open, seven elves appeared in front of him – one for each colour of the rainbow.

‘Hello Anir, ‘Do-Good-and-Right-Rainbow-Elves’ at your service. We’ve come to sort you out young man,’ said the orange elf with a look of determination on its face. Anir stood with his mouth still wide open.

‘We can each give you a gift – just one each, but you have to decide what you want. We would suggest that you put some thought into it as some of these gifts will last you for life,’ explained the green elf with a kindly smile on its face.

Anir looked puzzled, but for the first time in his life, he did as he was told. He sat down to decide on the seven gifts that he wanted. Can you help him to make a good decision?

Which seven things do you think Anir should choose from the following things?:
• To be the best looking person in the world
• An adventurous life
• To become famous
• To be really clever
• A flying carpet
• To be helpful
• To be generous
• To be brave
• To be easily pleased
• To have lots of friends
• To have a friend that fits in your pocket
• To be determined to get things done
• To be the richest person in the world
• To be able to forgive people easily
• To be a good listener
• To be interested in things
• To be confident
• To go on a great holiday
• To be calm
• To be really fit and sporty
• To be patient
• To be able to make yourself invisible
• Good health
• To have people who love you
• To treat people with respect
• To have a good imagination
• To never be lazy
• To have a good sense of humour
• To be friendly
• To be honest
• To be tidy
• To always see the good in things
• To be sensible
• To be a bit different from other people
• To be gentle
• To be easy going
• To be able to empathise

My choices would be:
* good health (when people choose this one - it usualy indicates that they are over 25!)
* a flying carpet
* to be generous (to others, you are what you give)
* to be interested in things
* to have a good sense of humour
* an adventurous life (although my idea of adventure does not necessarily involve white water rafting)
* to have people who love you

When I use this as a (quick and fun) training activity, some people's choices are things a person already has and values and other choices are things they aspire to have. It's also surprising how much this activity makes people expose about themselves! Some people choose very 'giving' choices (e.g. to be a good listener, to be helpful), others choose things with an adventure bias, others with a relationship or social bias....etc.. Also, very few people complete it on behalf of Prince Anir - they usually forget about him - and of course it becomes a personal values exercise.

Comments

  1. Actually Claire said...

    1.Good health (way way way above everything else - I have just turned 25)
    2.Have people who love you
    3.To be confident (massive asset to have in all areas of life I think - I used to be shy which is a big disibility)
    4.To be brave (in a feel the fear and do it anyway kind of way, not a fighting lions way)
    5.To have an adventurous life (see the world, try new things - but don't mean bungee jumping type stuff!)
    6. To be able to empathise (to help connect properly with people)
    7. To have a good sense of humour (in order to be able to laugh a lot - which would also give good health)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'd like buttered toast that has no calories

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sandra, you have broken the rules. However, I too, would quite like that but can we modify it to also be filled with healthy nutrients and count as one of the five a day - while we are rule breaking?

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  4. to be really fit and sporty of course. because then everything else on the list would naturally occur.
    you can see how right?
    elementary.
    ;-)
    ok maybe not the flying carpet.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Let's see for Prince Anir (whose name is an anagram for 'Err in Panic'):
    easily pleased
    good listener
    forgiving
    calm
    patient
    sensible
    empathise
    Because he sounds like kind of a jerk to his underlings.

    This was fun, I caught myself starting to project on to these items to choose, then remembered the point of it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I want to choose more than seven for him.....and I want to add 'Have humility' to the list too

    Erm, I'm not very good at this am I?

    C x

    ReplyDelete
  7. I actually followed the link when I first investigated your blog and found this piece in situ. Do I win somthing?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I did think that my Anir would need more than 7. Then came realisation I might get the cane for disobeying!!
    So here:-
    An adventurous life
    To be a good listener
    Good health
    To be confident
    To have people who love you
    To be calm
    To have a good sense of humour

    ReplyDelete
  9. Claire - your list made me adjust mine. I like making activities up but when it comes to actually doing them, I have usually lost interest a bit and do it sloppily. So young and yet so wise. x

    Typejunky - are you like beauty in beauty and the beast...just a single rose papa...you can have 6 more. I am not delivering your carpet until your order is complete.

    Clipster - wild, crazy, random one.

    Eric - well considered list - now what would YOU like?

    Carol - a fair effort, with rule breaking and not very good counting.

    FF - a smile :-)

    Heronster - I have come to realise I have created a slightly odd culture for my bloggin community - believing they might get caned. Still if it's the motivation people need to complete the task properly - please perpetuate the rumour!!!!!
    ;-) I have only just mastered the smiley face and winking one *:-) what would that be? Or this £:-( or this <:-) or this ~~~~~~~:-) or this
    @:-( or this C:-) or oops lost myself there

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. We are indeed like a gaggle of slightly unruly children who both want to be teacher's pet and stand out for being naughty at the same time.

    ReplyDelete

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