We all have things in our lives that are important to us. Those things may be particular possessions or activities we value, or even something you can’t see or touch like friendships.
- Name some things you value very much. (Accept all reasonable answers. Emphasize that important things may not be physical possessions.)
- Have you ever lost something that you value? How did it make you feel? (Encourage students to briefly share their experiences.)
- Have you ever been in a situation where you would have done anything to get or keep something important to you? (Be prepared to share your own examples, e.g., giving up one important thing in order to retain another.)
If there’s something we really, really want, we will go to great efforts to get (or keep) it. We will keep going after something to get what we want. In this video, a dog and a bird are battling it out…let’s see what happens.
Play the video for the students [3:47]:
Dog and bird play and fight over food
- Who do you think wanted the food more—the dog or the bird? (Answers may vary; both animals seemed committed to gaining control over the bowl of food.)
- Have you ever wanted something as badly as this dog and bird wanted the dog food? (Answers may vary.)
- Trickier question: have you ever wanted something so much that you neglected more important things to get it? (Students may be hesitant to share; providing your own examples can help stimulate discussion.)
There’s nothing wrong with wanting something, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with working for what you want. But if something you want becomes so important to you that you lose sight of what really matters, it can be a real problem. Let’s find out more.
