Most people have heard the expression “The Attitude of Gratitude,” but beyond knowing the saying how do you ensure it is a part of your consciousness? I see gratitude as a key ingredient to being and feeling our best and it doesn’t have to just be once a year during Thanksgiving. In fact, practicing the daily dose of gratitude may be the best antidote for dealing with the struggles and pressures that face us all. Thanksgiving merely provides a scheduled opportunity to help refocus our perspective rejuvenate our desire to get in touch with this perhaps the very best version of ourselves.
I know for myself that when I come from a place of being grateful everything and everyone else around me seems to improve. Does it really improve? Naturally in many cases things don’t magically change, but what does change is my perspective and most of the time this is all that is necessary.
The choice to make life easier is not always the best choice for your child
Posted: December 26, 2017
By Master Christopher Rappold
In a culture that continuously floods messages of immediate gratification and quick, effortless solutions, it is easy to forget that challenge and resistance is a natural part of a healthy life. Stress can often increase when we expect things should be easy and then we hit the inevitable road bump. Like Thomas Edison attempting 10,000 times to invent the light bulb, we need to remember that every failure, every rejection, every refusal allows you an opportunity to refine your approach and move forward. Delays are not denials as long as you recognize their value and learn from the feedback.
As parents, it is perfectly natural to want to protect our children from life’s disappointments, defeats and setbacks. A better way to protect your children in the long run though may be to help them understand that all of these things are a part of the natural process of learning. Children are going to come up against classmates in school who challenge their view, teachers who give too much homework or have too high expectations, friends who betray trust, etc. And while parents in many cases can “get involved” and make these problems go away, the momentary release of stress for their child ultimately cripples a child’s ability to fend for themselves in the long run.