How do we teach them gratitude?
A couple of years ago, Deepak Chopra through one of his books (The Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents) taught me how nice it would be if my kids gave thanks for what they already have. If your kids want the same amount of things like my kids, we can agree that it is almost impossible to give everything they ask. We should need a house for the toys and other for a living.
An ritual of gratitude, shared family, is a nice way to recognize the gift of life
–Deepak Chopra
I thought after the night reading, just before bedtime might be the perfect time to say thanks. At first I must admit that it wasn’t very easy for my kids to express their gratitude because somehow there was always something to complain about it, ‘I didn’t like this or that.’
We should remind them many times that it was time to say what they liked in the day. Following they start saying ‘I want to express my gratitude for all’ then we should ask them to be more specific. We asked them to express their gratitude for something they had done that day and that was important to them.
The result was better than that one day I could ever have imagined. Today, one of my boys when express his gratitude says
«I am grateful because I’m alive and that is all»,
another says «I’m grateful because I have a home, because of my daddy and my mommy»
and the oldest says «I’m grateful because I have everything I need, because I’m healthy, because I’m alive, and because my dad read to me a story.»
Every night after I hear them I get energetic and bliss because at that time I’m sure that every little effort, every little seed we sow in their heart and their minds flourishes. It reminds me every day the privilege of being a mother. I invite you today together with your family as I will do it with mine, to express our gratitude for what we have.
A happy family is but an earlier heaven.
–Bowring, Sir John
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