"To be OK means to be adequate, very valuable and important" Thomas Anthony Harris, author of I'm OK, You – OK” CHAPTER 7 “I AM OKAY, YOU ARE OKAY” In the second chapter we talked a lot about strokes (positive and negative). We learned that stroking is very important to us. And if in childhood we did not receive enough of them, then we began to feel unhappy, could get sick or were even on the verge of death. At first we received strokes just because we exist. Later, as we grew older, we learned that we also get strokes for doing something good or bad. We usually receive pats for our behavior from people important to us, such as mom or dad, who do or do not expect certain actions from us. In both cases, we experience certain feelings (positive or negative). But in fact, we really like it when we are given strokes just because we are. And we would like there to be more moments like this. Have you ever felt the same way? Have you ever wanted to receive strokes just because you are, and not because you do something good or bad? WHAT IT MEANS TO BE OKAY Warm Fuzzies (positive strokes) help people feel good, to feel OK. Being OK means being valuable, capable and important. This means that each of us is capable of thinking, each of us is very important to ourselves and those around us, and also valuable because each of us is human. Do you feel OK? If yes, then you are lucky. If not, can you change your feelings of not being OK to feeling OK? ALL PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD are OKAY (AND YOU INCLUDING) All people, when they are born, automatically become OK, i.e. everyone becomes valuable, able to do and think, and becomes important to themselves and others. There is not a single person among us who is not capable of thinking enough to cope with what is required of him. When you were born, you were also OK and became the most valuable thing on the entire planet to your mom or dad or anyone else who took care of you. But, if they didn’t think so, then I know for sure that you were OK (and remain so), and if I were around, I would definitely tell you about it. You can ask your parents what they can do to help you live. In response, of course, they can joke: “Oh, don’t ask stupid questions!”, but believe me, they will be ready to give millions and billions of dollars for your life. Therefore, you are very valuable, not so much in money, but in the fact that you exist. Oh, we know that sometimes there are parents who tell their children: “So, get out of here!”, “Stay out of the way!”, or even worse, “Why did I even give birth to you?!”, but in reality they They don’t think so just because you are part of them. And their parents, unfortunately, simply did not teach them to express their anger in another way. As you can see, many parents do not always treat their children well, and children begin to feel as if they were adopted by unloving guardians. But this does not in any way affect the significance of these children or their OKness (goodness). It only means that their biological father or mother was not ready to love them, were not ready to take care of them for one or another personal reasons. But, of course, there are people in the World who are capable of loving and caring. All people (and we mean absolutely all people on the planet) are OK. Sometimes it may not seem like it at all. But even the “badest” person in the world has a “good” seed inside that he can grow. And why then do many of us have a strong feeling that we are not OK, or that someone else is not OK? I'll tell you why this happens. HOW PRINCES AND PRINCESSES TURN INTO FROGS When you)».