Ever feel discouraged? Most people have been sad at one time or another in their lives. Pick yourself up and do something different to make yourself happy again. There are so many different things that can put us on the path to discouragement such as –

• No one wants to play with a child
• Bullying by other children or even adults
• Someone ignores you
• A friend or family member is mean to you
• You are asked to do something and do not get the support you need
• You are insulted or misunderstood
• You find cliques at school, church, or elsewhere
• Someone tries to micromanage what you are doing

And the list goes on and on. If you said yes to any of these, then you are not alone. Just look at the story of The Ugly Duckling or Rudolf, the Red Nosed Reindeer and see how they dealt with it. Pray and find out how you can do something different, so you do not get into the “woe is me syndrome”. Sometimes us “misfits” need to just look at the offenders who think they are so very perfect and smile!

Homeschoolers: Sketch/color an illustration. Theme: discouraged. Finish this sentence: I am sad when…  Read the story called The Ugly Duckling. Write what happened to The Ugly Duckling.