HOnesty resources
the empty pot
In this beautiful story, the Chinese emporer needs to find a successor. He decides to search for an heir in a creative, unconventional way by giving seeds to all the children in the area and asking them to plant their seeds. When the children are called to present their flowers to the emporer, all of the children present the most glorious flowers, except for Ping. While Ping feels like a failure because his seeds did not flourish, the emporer knows the truth. In fact, because Ping brings him an empty pot, the emporer knows that Ping has an honest heart. In seeing Ping's honesty, he is without a doubt emporer's choice as successor.
the boy who cried wolf
This classic story reminds its readers what happens when someone repeatedly tells lies; naturally, no one believes them any longer! This is the story of the shepherd boy who out of boredom made up stories about his sheep being attacked. When real life wolves actually showed up, no one believed his cries for help. Stories like this have a way of sticking with us (children and adults alike!) more than any admonishment to simply “tell the truth.” This is a great character education resource!move towards more grounding coping skills.
DISCLAIMER: Elizabeth is a member of Amazon Affiliates. If you choose to buy a product from any of these links, Burton Counseling will receive a small portion of the proceeds. You may choose instead to support your local bookstore and buy directly from them. These are book recommendations with therapeutic and character education themes that may or may not be helpful. This is not therapy itself.
Elizabeth B. Burton is a licensed professional counselor and life coach with Burton Counseling, PLLC. Elizabeth lives just outside of Chattanooga, TN., and you can learn about Elizabeth here. You can learn more about working directly with Elizabeth here. Elizabeth also provides support to individuals and groups through an online course on Coping with Anxiety & Stress and through providing workshops. Elizabeth communicates about mental health and well-being through both the Narrating Hope newsletter and podcast as well as through her writing. Elizabeth would love to connect with you and welcomes you to sign up for the newsletter, listen in to the podcast, reach out about working together, and connect on social media.