Feel Good Anyway

Hi, my name is Adrian. Thanks for not making fun of my name. My Mom loved it, and my dad didn´t say anything, so she wrote it on the form. I´m not kidding. That´s how I got my name. Like everyone else, I´m just trying to make it through 7th grade, so I can hang out at the pool all summer. That is, if I make it! If I don´t pass, I will be in summer school and grounded from the pool. That´s what my parents say, anyway. Every day starts with my alarm clock going off twelve times because I keep hitting the snooze button, then my mom threatens to throw cold water on me if I don´t get up to go to school. Then I meet my friend, Shawn, at the corner. Unless I´m late. Then I catch up with Shawn when I finally make it to school. What´s this? I just hit the snooze for the 13th time and my mom didn´t yell. In fact, it´s pretty quiet. In fact, it´s totally quiet! Look! There’s a strange sign hanging on the back of my bedroom door that says, ¨Read this. Love, MOM.¨ Here´s the note: Dear Adrian, I went to a meeting at the school last night. It was called Feel Good Anyway: Training Parents As Emotional Family Role Models. I decided to give it a try. So, whether you get up and go to school today, I have decided to feel good anyway. Whether you decide to feel good anyway is up to you, but if you want to give it a try, too, just fill in the flowchart below. See you tonight. I am making your favorite dinner—spaghetti with plain sauce and crescent rolls. Love, MOM Can you beat it? I could stay home and miss school if I want. I could. . . But I’m afraid I’ll flunk Spanish. OK, what is this flowchart about? Directions: If you are afraid of anything, just finish the sentence. Complete each sentence as you work your way down the page, imagining yourself flowing down a river. That’s why it is called a flowchart. Each feeling thought gets easier and lighter, until you feel no resistance at all. You just feel good anyway. Didn´t I just say I’m afraid I will flunk Spanish? OK. I wrote that in. Here goes nothing