Be Grateful

A Thankful Heart by MORGAN WEISTLING

I was just reading an article on Prevention Magazine's website about healthy life lessons to teach your children and the last one, number 13 really stood out to me, it's about being grateful.

"If the days of your preschooler parroting back "thank-you" are long over, consider resurrecting the practice.

Research suggests that grateful people have more energy and optimism, are less bothered by life's hassles, are more resilient in the face of stress, have better health, and suffer less depression than the rest of us, says psychologist Joan Borysenko, PhD. "People who practice gratitude—and yes, it is something one can learn and improve—are also more compassionate, more likely to help others, less materialistic, and more satisfied with life."

If you have young kids, giving thanks together before bedtime or around the dinner table can help develop a healthy and loving attitude toward life. For older kids, let them learn from your habits: Make thanking others an everyday practice for you, and they’ll follow suit. Tell people what a good job they do, how kind they are, or how fabulous they look—as long as it's absolutely true."

-13 Healthy Life Lessons to Teach Your Kids By the editors of Prevention.com

Isn't it crazy how much control we really have over how we choose to look at life and how that has such an impact on how life affects us? Creating an attitude of gratitude might take practice, but it seems like a rather simple thing to do most of the time. I've heard people in the past preach about the impact having a gratitude journal can be in your life. Even if you tend to look at things negatively and have a difficult time seeing the positives and being grateful, if you can think of at least ONE thing to be grateful for, that's a start...and it can even be something small like, it's a nice day out today...or junior had a long nap today....or jr didn't have a tantrum today...I'm alive....
If we can instill this attitude of gratitude into our children, think of what a gift that is to them just based on the statement made above. For more ideas on how to raise grateful children, check out this article I wrote a while back on the subject.

How to Raise Grateful Kids