An exercise in three parts

Here's a wee exercise I learned (by doing) from an acceptance and committment therapist at school last year. I found it really helpful, and thought you might enjoy doing it. It's important to complete each part *before* looking at the next part. The whole exercise probably won't take more than 20 minutes, and all you need is a pencil and one or two sheets of paper.

1. Take a blank sheet of paper, and at the top, draw a line from the left to the right. Imagine that the line represents your life, with the left end being your birth, and the right end being your death. Now draw a mark on the line for where you are on it right now.
In between the left end and the mark you have made for right now, think of five highly significant things that have shaped who you are so far. As you think of each one, put a number for it on the line approximately where it happened, and then below the line write 2 to 4 sentences describing how what happened and how/why it was significant. Take approximately 4-8 minutes to complete this part, but don't stress if it takes you longer or shorter. Also don't stress if you want to do 4 things or 6 things, these are just general guidelines =).

Here's Part 2