GRATITUDE makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. …

So how does it work?

Our happy todays, health, finances, the food on our table, the clothes on our back is something we take for granted. We fail to realise so many times that a lot of people have it going worse than us. I want to raise Grateful children, and trust me it is hard with having given them whatever they need. I have been making intentional changes on how I want them to appreciate little things which in turn will bring out gratitude. Things I am trying to do to raise grateful humans –

1. Don’t give them everything they ask for – This is a big one. I have learnt the more we give the less they learn to appreciate what they have. They are children after all and that is all they know. Saying no to them helps them realize that they can’t demand anything and everything. You may have to deal with an angry or resentful child, but that is alright. They will come out of it. You do them  bigger harm by giving into their qualms every time they demand something.
2. Teach them to work for what they want – the purpose of this act is twofold, one being getting them to get up and going about doing some work and putting an effort into what they want. Two, teaching them the value of hard work and how life isn’t a crystal ball. They have to work for what they need. It doesn’t come easy.
3. Not forgetting our own roots by telling them stories from our child hood – I do make it a point to out to them and compare what happened at my age or a certain instance to help them know their feelings are real and being their parent I understand their emotions . This helps them realise we aren’t kidding and we respect their feelings when we say no to that Apple Watch they wanted for helping around at home.
4. Giving them a peek into people who have it going worse – this can be an occasional visit to the hospital, old age home or even helping them pack food for the homeless. This is a real eye opener, their little minds may not be able to absorb a lot but slowly those images will help them realise that they have to be grateful for those veggies they usually detest.
5. Making them aware of what is going on around the world irrespective of where they live is absolutely critical. They have to be made aware of how people’s lives are changed in the moment and how nothing we hold onto will give us any gratification in the long run.

Gratitude will help them unlock the fullness of life.