Objectives:
- To convey the concept of reframing their own stories
- To help participants become present and positive
- To help overcome doubts and reservations for the session to come
Overview: In pairs participants share a part of their own stories first as a series of calamities and then as a series of miracles.
Group size: 4+ (join in if you don’t have an even number)
Time: 10-15 min
Game flow:
| For the participants | For the facilitator |
| In pairs share with each other your story of how you came to be here today. Tell it as a series of obstacles, challenges and calamities that you had to overcome. | Time participants for 2 min each. Warn them ahead of time about the time constraint.. Give them a half time warning and count them down from 10 sec. |
| Tell the same story of how you came to be here, but this time, tell it as a series of miracles that serendipitously worked our exactly in the right way to get you here right now ready for the session. | Again 2 min with warnings and count down. |
Debrief questions:
What was this exercise like for you?
which one is the true story?
All answers are correct, because the true story is the one that you believe right now. It can be any of the two or both at once, it does not matter what people say all will be right.
Thanks
Thank each other for sharing stories – stories are precious and personal and must be appreciated.
Tips and variations:
- You can ask people to relate any story, even their entire life stories (give them at least 3 min then).
- It can also be related to a specific topic (weight loss, challenging careers, your relationship with your partner etc) e.g. Tell the story of how you have tried to lose weight and failed up until today and then how all the events in your story about weight loss leads miraculously to this point making it the perfect moment in time to be where you are.