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.