Activity:    Correcting the doing,
                  not the being

Kind: with a friend old enough to understand
             and able to role play as described below.

Duration: 10-15 minutes

Location: wherever works for you.

Instructions:

1. 1)Ensure both you and your partner understand the difference between correcting what someone does, and correcting that person.  You may wish to discuss examples
   

2. 2)Each choose an activity that you know well, but the other person is not familiar with, or not good at.  This must be something small and short enough to teach in a couple of minutes, thus a “how to” is best.  
   

3. 3)Take turns being the teacher and the learner, i.e. the person who corrects and the other who is being corrected.  Each of you will first correct the being of the other and then, fairly quickly after that (to clear up the discomfort the person being corrected inevitably feels) change your approach and instead correct what the person is doing.  Make the separation between the two approaches explicit.
   

4. 4)Discuss how you felt. 
   
   Quite likely you already have a habit correcting the doing rather than the being.  This activity is not intended to teach you how, but rather to let you reconsider the practice from your current perspective.  Consider both the emotional and practical dimensions of this difference.