I was talking to Jillian a couple days ago and we were
talking about some people not having a lot of stuff. We have conversations like this often, as I
am trying to instill helpful, compassionate, giving and thankful traits into my
children.
During the conversations she asked, "so when they don't have a lot of things then they're sad?" I was trying to explain that some people, who don't have a lot are still happy because of the way they think. They are happy because they choose to be positive and thankful for the things they do have. I was trying to explain perspective to her.
I was thinking about this conversation and have to admit that this is something I struggle with. While I get frustrated with the entitlement and selfishness of my children, I confess that I often display negative and ungratefulness myself. I complain a lot. I yell a lot. I am jealous a lot. I am resentful a lot. I feel entitled a lot. And with so much negativity in the world today, who needs more? I am trying to teach my children to be appreciative, thankful, and positive...if I leave out eloquent language, in short, I don't want my children to be brats. ." For fear of sounding Pollyanna-ish (did you know that Pollanna Syndrome is a thing?!?!?!?!?), this is my goal: to change my perspective and change the negatives into positives. I want to display thankfulness and positivity to my children in a way that they will remember and act it out themselves.
I am already currently partaking in my second personal
Project365 on Instagram. This is already a quest
for finding little things I am thankful for.
However, for the next couple of
weeks, I am going to find something in
my everyday life to change my perspective
from unfavorable to thankfulness. It doesn't mean that I am going to suddenly love doing the laundry, but it does
mean making a conscious effort to be positive about "why I have so much
laundry.
