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#BrainHappy

Perseverance

The images are intentionally 'sketch' quality.  Ideally, the images should be drawn as the ideas are narrated for best learning practice.  I chose sketch quality to make the image accessible for anyone to draw it for children.

Solve Problems

  • The arrows above the Problem Solving Tunnel represent the attempts or strategies applied to solve a problem.

  • The more strategies you have to try, the bigger or more Purple Bunnies you get at the end.

  • The tunnel represents problems or challenges.

  • The large arrow going through the tunnel represents the path one takes to go through the tunnel. At the end is the Purple bunny.

  • A Purple Bunny is the feeling you earn when you solve a problem.

Help Others

  • The other way to earn Purple Bunnies is to give them.

  • You give them by acknowledging others without judgment.

  • You give them by helping others.

  • You get Purple Bunnies and the target gets Purple Bunnies.  

  • As long as we have any Purple Bunnies to freely give, then this is the way to earn Purple Bunnies even when there are no problems to solve.

Diversity

diversity of agency

  • Everyone is born with different amounts of Purple Bunnies.

  • Some days each of us has different amounts of Purple Bunnies.

  • Some times of the day we have different amounts of Purple Bunnies.

  • Events, experiences, and resources affect the density of Purple Bunnies.

Challenges and Experiences

challenges risk resilience

Each of these people have lost two Purple Bunnies.  It is more obvious in the target on the left.

Drains Purple Bunnies

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  • Learning a new skill

  • Taking safe risks -

    • Doing a presentation

    • Dressing down for PE

    • Being different

    • Going to a new school

  • Health and Wellness

  • External Challenges

  • Comments perceived as rude, mean or bullying.

  • Sometimes people try to get Purple Bunnies by taking them from other people. You can tell they are trying to do that because the person does something or says something mean. When a person takes a Purple Bunny from the target on the left, it makes a significant impact, since there aren't many Purple Bunnies there.

  • So, often this person cries or gets very angry because it hurts.

  • If a person takes a Purple Bunny away from the target on the right, it isn't very noticeable. The person hears it or feels it, but has enough other Purple Bunnies that there is no effect.

Build Resilience

resilience growth mindset continuum
Struggle

  • The line represents life challenges and survival.

  • The people represent times when we are starting with a low reserve.

  • As the person with the fewest Purple Bunnies struggles through challenges, he or she builds stamina for future struggles.  Some people call this perseverance, grit tenacity.

  • The person becomes accustomed to it.

  • When the person earns enough Purple Bunnies to reach the level of others, he or she does not tend to stop struggling.  

  • The people who started off with the least Purple Bunnies often surpass those who have the most.

  • Sometimes people have a network of others to help them.

  • If one lacks a reserve of Purple Bunnies, then there may not be enough to 'spend' on challenges. 

  • This is why it is important to teach that we can build our supply by solving problems and helping others.

  • It is important to teach how to break problems into smaller parts and ask for help. So that we can build a reserve of resources to tackle larger problems.

resiliencepost.png
Resilience

  • Experiences and challenges move people to the left towards lower Bunny density.

  • Perseverance moves them back toward the right.

  • As a person struggles and perseveres, resilience is created.

  • The more trips back and forth, the more resilient people become.

  • Other ideas to consider are tenacity and grit.

  • The challenges that drain Purple Bunnies offer the opportunity to build resilience.

  • ​

  • Many times the people who are born with the most Purple Bunnies are more accustomed to things coming easily. Though anyone in any context can be born with a lot of Purple Bunnies, sometimes this person is born with a quick wit or physical talent. Sometimes things just come easy for him or her.

  • When something is easy, one does NOT earn Purple Bunnies. The person might get acknowledgment from others, or experience pride in an outcome, but those are not the longest lasting Purple Bunnies.  Earn them through one's own journey makes them last.

  • SO, when our people to whom things come easy,  approach a challenge that isn't easily solved, they often begin to question themselves especially if they have been taught that their skill or talent makes them special.

  • Because now, they wonder if they are exceptional. Perhaps they have looked at people who struggle as inferior. Now, they may question their own struggle.

  • So it is imperative to be VERY careful about how we acknowledge a child's successes. We should recognize their efforts more than the outcome. If the outcome of EFFORT is impressive, then, by all means, support that. However, if an astounding outcome came easily, teach humility

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