Page 35 - SB-Polly Perfect

Worksheet
Adults who succeed in life, attribute many qualities and skills as the reasons for their success. A frequently overlooked skill is that of being, “a good winner” and “a good looser.”
A good winner is happy that they win but they do not gloat and make fun of the losers. In our real world, a truly good winner is honestly supportive of the efforts of the other, “That was a great game.”
This is true of many of life’s contests, not just sports. If you get the promotion, make the sale and so on, you will find the “top” very lonely if you gloat and ridicule the “losers” along the way.
In the first question on this page, some of the children may come up with good examples of the thinking that could cause Polly to become upset. There may be a lot of “That is not fair” thinking when considering this question. But this contest is much like life, you expect it to be a certain way and it is not. Do you accept that your assumptions were wrong and get over it or do you pitch a fit and recall all the injustices you have ever experienced?
Your children will probably all recognize that the answer to question two is that Polly will never be a “good looser.” Of course, Polly is an extreme example of this perfectionistic thinking. She is designed to help children recognize the folly of this type of thinking. Few are as extreme as Polly and change is always possible. But the Pollys of the world will have to work very hard to change.
By contrast, your children should recognize that the winner of the “Most Appealing Fruit” contest would be a lot nicer to have as a roommate than Polly. It is important to get them to verbalize the “whys” in the hope that some may imitate the winner’s behavior in the future.
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