Encouraging Gratitude in the Season of Giving and Receiving!

Gifts are truly lovely things, and there is pleasure in giving and receiving. However, in this season of shopping, there's also a place to acknowledge the valuable gifts we already have! Isn't that what Chanukah (evening of December 1^st) and Christmas (December 25^th) should be, appreciation of what we have?!

From the recent Wall Street Journal article by Melinda Beck, gratitude is good for your happiness and good for your health.

“In an upcoming paper in the Journal of Happiness Studies, Dr. Froh and colleagues surveyed 1,035 high school students and found that the most grateful had more friends and higher GPA’s while the most materialistic had lower grades, higher levels of envy and less satisfaction with life. “One of the best cures for materialism is to make somebody grateful for what they have,” says Dr. Froh.

It’s worth it: Children who are grateful have better grades, set higher personal goals, exhibit greater satisfaction with their lives, tend to be less materialistic, and are more likely to “give back.” Those are tremendous benefits from a single characteristic!!!  

Here are some approaches to encourage gratitude in kids:

• A gratitude journal with one to three specific good things that happened during the day

• Think and speak positively; negativity in thoughts and words promotes negative attitudes

• Pause during the day and pay attention to your environment, views, sounds, smells, etc.

• Swap gratitude lists with a friend as appreciation, not as bragging

• Speak positively; negativity in thoughts and words breeds more negativity

• Visit, call, or write a letter with thanks to someone who has helped you

• Keep good memories of vacations, excursions, special events with pictures and postcards and notes

• Count your blessings not sheep at the end of the day (see another entry for all the lyrics!)

For the record, gratitude is good for adults as well: Adults with gratitude are more optimistic, have more social satisfaction, sleep better, exercise more, and have less depression, envy, and fewer physical complaints. Wow! I hope I didn’t put my gratitude away on Thanksgiving with all the platters and bowls and china!