When a downcast Sergio gets home from a bad day at school, his wise mother listens sympathetically to his tale of woe and then suggests an experiment. Placing a bowl of marbles next to Grandfather's old balance scale, she asks him to go back to the beginning of his day and remember each good and bad thing that happened. For each bad thing, he places a marble on the right-hand pan of the scale; for each good thing he places a marble on the left-hand pan. Sergio is amazed to discover that even on a day that felt awful, the good outweighed the bad.

LINDA RYDEN teaches mindfulness, kindness, and conflict resolution to more than 600 elementary school students and has developed her Peace of Mind curriculum to integrate these practices into education nationwide. Her work has been recognized in the Washington Post and the Huffington Post, and her program has been featured on local CBS, ABC and Fox5 news stations. Visit www.TeachPeaceofMind.com for more.