The glass is half full
Genuine gratitude is powerful, healing and inspiring
Today is my grandma’s birthday. She would have been 91 years old. While I miss her dearly, I reminisce on her qualities. She was a simple, homemaker, the wife of a humble government employee of meager salary. A very talented singer, she gave up public singing due to family commitments. Singing wasn’t her only skill, she was an exceptional cook. My grandma was an extraordinary woman, who always looked at the half full part of the glass.
The ability to look at the glass and being grateful for what we have is a very key trait for success and happiness. Gratitude has been shown through research, to be a vital for emotional intelligence, self-regulation and hence happiness. One might argue that being satisfied with the half full glass will create complacence. And I agree with that.
Being satisfied with status quo might lead to complacence. But gratitude isn’t complacence. It’s far from that. Gratitude is turning around, looking at the path that we’ve come, and being happy for coming this far in safety. It fuels the interest in moving forward, with lesser fear, with more happiness, and with renewed hope. In fact, gratitude fosters growth.
We live in a very complex world. Stress is a common place thing. Not just in our lives but in that of our children’s as well. Increasing complexity pressures them to give up or become aggressive! In either case, gratitude is an essential tool that needs to be in their toolbox. Learning to take stock, being humbled by the progress made so far, be inspired by what is there calms their brain and lifts the spirits.
Research by the Greater Good Science Center, UC Berkeley, gratitude is a life skill that can combat and prevent depression. Gratitude shouldn’t be pretentious — it’s not about building images of rosy pictures. It needs to be genuinely taking stock and deriving strength from the good that has occurred. It’s not just telling oneself or believing that “I am grateful.” It’s a muscle that needs to be practiced regularly for it to show its healing powers.
Ways to teach children gratitude
- Practice and teach by role modeling
- Incorporate gratitude practices into everyone’s schedule
- Teach the children to journal
- Use nature as a gratitude tool
Practice and help children practice gratitude!
Strengthen the emotional wellness!
