From our guest contributor, Michael Josephson. 

A man and his companion lost their way in a forest. The companion despaired, but the man said maybe some good would come of it. They came upon a stranger who needed the man’s help. The stranger turned out to be a prince who gave the man a beautiful horse.

His neighbors praised his good luck and said, “How blessed you are to have such a magnificent animal.”

The man said, “Who’s to say whether this is a blessing or a curse?”

The next day the horse ran away, and the neighbors said, “How horrible that you were cursed with the loss of your horse.”

The man replied, “Who’s to say whether this is a curse or a blessing? Perhaps some good will come of this.”

The next day the horse returned leading five wild horses. “You were right!” his neighbors exclaimed. “The curse was a blessing in disguise. Now you’re blessed with six horses.”

The man replied, “Perhaps, but who’s to say whether this is a blessing or a curse?”

The next day his only son tried to ride one of the wild horses. He was thrown to the ground and broke his leg. The neighbors said, “How wise you were. Your blessing really was a curse.”

The man replied, “There may be good yet. Who’s to say whether this is a curse or a blessing?”

The next day soldiers came through the village and took every able-bodied boy to fight in a war where it was almost certain all would be killed. Because the man’s son was injured, the boy was the only one not taken. “How blessed are you to keep your son!” the neighbors said.

The man replied, “Who’s to say? I don’t know whether there’s a curse in every blessing, but I am sure there’s a blessing in every curse.”

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts. 

Michael Josephson is an influential and internationally renowned champion of character education for youth and ethical conduct in business, government, policing, journalism, sports, healthcare and law. He is credited by many as the person most responsible for reviving and professionalizing the character education in school and youth-serving organizations. In 1992, under the auspices of the Josephson Institute he created CHARACTER COUNTS!, the world’s most widely implemented character development initiative based on a common language of shared values – the Six Pillars of Character) and Pursuing Victory With Honor (1996), a companion program promoting ethics in sports.

Learn more about character education.

From our guest contributor, Michele Borba. 

REALITY CHECK: 93 percent of adults feel we are failing to instill values in children. What’s more, “being kind and caring” isn’t even high on our kids’ priority lists! Two-thirds of adolescents ranked their own personal happiness as more important than their goodness. It’s time to help our kids switch their focus from Selfie to Unselfie and see themselves as caring, compassionate people.

As in most families, each of my sons has different interests, skills, and strengths. To have all of them involved in the same giving to others project wouldn’t have been wise. So my husband and I tried to encourage each child to find a project that matched his concerns and talents. Not only did they enjoy volunteering, but were more committed to their causes. And all three boys caught that “Helper’s High” and continue to want to give back to others. Here are ways to match your child’s interests, passions and strengths with volunteer projects:

1. Likes to read, write, tell stories: Offer to read or write letters for young kids, the elderly, or people with disabilities; start a letter-writing campaign about an issue that concerns him; be a pen pal with an orphan overseas, donate used books to a library, homeless shelter, or classroom.

2. Enjoys sports, theatre, gymnastics, or dance: Help coach younger children in dancing, gymnastics, a favorite sport, or acting, volunteer for the Special Olympics; help students with disabilities at a local school; repair toys for needy or sick kids; sew blankets for a shelter.

3. Is original, enjoys working alone to pursue own interests and goals: “Adopt” someone who could use a friend such as an elderly person; teach a special hobby—magic, juggling, art—to needy kids; ask permission to start a food drive at the parents’ workplace or community.

4. Enjoys being with others, likes joining or leading groups: Start a club and make snacks for homeless kids or soup for a shelter; put together a walk-a-thon donate proceeds to a local charity; go door-to-door with a parent and friends collecting warm clothes to give to homeless.

5. Is musical, plays instruments, likes to sing: Play an instrument at nursing homes; organize sing-alongs at a shelter or assisted living; teach needy kids to play an instrument.

6. Is logical and mathematics, enjoys science and math, likes to figure things out: Tutor math, science, or computers to younger children; play chess or checkers to kids at a hospital; make flyers asking for specific donations to a shelter and post in the community.

7. Likes to draw and design, imaginative and creative: Paint or hang up hand-painted pictures at a shelter, make greeting cards and deliver them to a hospital; do craft projects with the elderly.

8. Likes the out-of-doors and nature: Plant vegetables then donate the harvest to soup kitchen or shelter;help kids at a shelter plant a garden; clean up a park, plant trees on school grounds

Find a project that matches your child’s interests, abilities and passions to realize he is a difference maker.

Dr. Michele Borba is an educational psychologist, parenting expert, TODAY show contributor and author of 22 books including The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101 Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries and UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World.

Check out: micheleborba.com or follow her on Twitter @micheleborba.

Learn more about character education.

Learn more about character education.

When you hear the word “beautiful” what do you think of? You might think of famous celebrities, the latest clothing trends, artwork or even a colorful sunset. But what if we thought of characteristics such as kindness, courage and compassion as “beautiful”? Read this story about a young princess who wanted to be beautiful and found it where she least expected it.

The Princess Who Wanted to Be Beautiful 
By: Unknown

Once upon a time there was a little Princess who was very unhappy because she was not as pretty to look at as she thought a little Princess should be. She sat in the garden and was sorrowful and cried a great deal of the time, because she felt quite sure that no one would ever make her a queen.

One day she sat by the wall of the garden with her hands in her lap, and was looking very sad. An old woman, very bent and gray, and carrying a bundle, passed along the road outside and looked over the wall.

“Why do you cry, little Princess?” she asked.

“Because I am not beautiful,” the little Princess replied, “and so I shall never be made a queen.”

“Why do you not go out into the world and find someone who can make you beautiful?” asked the old woman as she started again on her way.

And this seemed like such a new adventure that the little Princess went out through the garden gate and started down the road. The old woman had disappeared as if the road had taken her into its gray dust, but before the little Princess had gone very far she overtook a boy. He was stumbling along the road as if it were hard for him to find his way. He put out his hand and touched the little Princess’ silken sleeve.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I am going to find someone who will help to make me beautiful,” the little Princess said. “I am not pretty enough to be a queen.”

“Wait a while and help me,” said the little boy. “I am blind, and I cannot find my way home.”

So the little Princess took the blind boy’s hand in hers and walked along with him, leading him very gently, until they came to the cottage by the side of the road where he lived. Then the little Princess went on, hurrying, for she felt that she had lost a great deal of time. But before she had gone very far, she saw a little girl standing by the edge of the woods and crying. When the little girl saw the Princess, she looked up and asked,

“Where are you going?”

“I am going to find someone who will help me to be beautiful,” the little Princess said. “I am not pretty enough to be a queen.”

“Wait awhile and help me,” said the little girl. “My mother is ill, and I went to the dairy to fetch her some milk and eggs, but I have no money, and they say that I must pay.”

The little Princess pulled from the silk bag at her side a bright gold piece. She had but two of them to buy herself food on her journey, but she gave one to the child. “This is to pay for the milk and eggs,” she said. Then the little girl laughed with happiness. Her smile was as bright as the sunshine that came down through the trees and lighted them both.

“Now I must make great haste,” thought the little Princess. “It is getting on in the day and I am no more beautiful than when I started.” But she had gone only a little way when she came suddenly upon the same old woman, who had spoken to her in the morning.

“Did you do as I bade you?” asked the old woman.

“Yes,” said the little Princess. “But I am still ugly to look at,” she added, dropping her head.

“Oh no, you are not,” said the old woman. “Look!” And she held a little mirror before the face of the Princess.

A strange thing had happened. The little Princess’s eyes, in leading the little blind boy, had grown as bright as stars. Her hair was as shining as the gold piece which she had given away.

“Shall I ever be a queen!” asked the Princess.

The old woman took a small gold crown from the bundle she carried and set it upon the little Princess’ head.

“You are a queen, my dear!” she said.

Learn more about character education.

Learn more about character education.

See more character quotations in our quotations database.

Learn more about character education.

See more character quotations in our quotations database.

Learn more about character education.

See more character quotations in our quotations database.

Learn more about character education.

Learn more about character education.

See more character quotations in our quotations database.