Attitude of Gratitude - Parent Newsletter
The Attitude of Gratitude mindset teaches us the importance of seeking the positives from every experience and being thankful for all that we have. Through this mindset, we learn that we can use the positives or the negatives of our lives as the foundation on which to build. Choose the positives, and we are on our way toward extraordinary success; choose the negatives, and we embark on path toward disappointment, resentment, and suffering. In these lessons, we guide students to focus on all the things they have, leaving no time to be distracted by what they don’t.
Four Critical Components
1. Treasure Yourself – We create the wonderful lives we want by harvesting the great things within us. There are often things we don’t like about ourselves, but we must recognize that we’re made of far more wonderful things than not. We need to recognize our own worth and see our uniqueness as something to treasure and develop so we can live the extraordinary lives we’re meant to live.
2. Be More Grateful – We all have to focus on the positive things, they expand and guide us down the path to our dreams. If we spend our time in regret, jealously, and anger, then the negatives multiply and we likely find our dreams sidelined and our goals unattained. We must simply be more grateful, reflecting as much as possible on the good things in our lives as well as those that are coming to us.
3. Thank it Forward – One of the best and quickest ways to feel better and become happier is to do something for someone else. And the easiest as well as one of the most powerful things we can do for someone is express gratitude for who they are and what they mean to us. Thanking someone provides two wonderful gifts: it makes the other person feel good, and makes us happy at the same time.
4. Elevate Your Perspective – People who have achieved great lives point to moments of great adversity and challenge when they learned a critical lesson or built the essential skill that allowed them to be successful. Knowing this, we understand why it is important to seek the positives from all situations, even those that seem completely negative. When we do this, we get better, learn, and grow in essential ways that help us to live richer and fuller lives.
Top 5 DOs and DON'Ts
1) Do practice gratitude every day, even if it’s only to tell your children how grateful you are to have them in your life. If you have a journal, write down the things that you’re thankful for every day, both the big and small. Verbalizing what you’re grateful for is a powerful way that both you and your children can keep from taking things for granted and remain thankful for all that you have.
2) Do say “thank you” regularly. Showing your gratitude to neighbors and teachers with a kind note or word is one small way to show your appreciation for them. Teaching your children to do the same is important in helping them to feel gratitude for the lives and friends that they have.
3) Don’t let the bad times be all bad. Become an “inverse paranoid” and believe that the universe is conspiring to do you good, and the bad times and obstacles are there to teach you something useful. Try saying to yourself, “I can’t wait to find out what good will come from this!” This helps you look at all situations as leading toward positives in life.
4) Do write a thank you note to your children for what you appreciate about them. For example, you might write and leave a note that says, “Thank you so much for picking up your room today without me even asking. You are an incredible kid and I am so thankful to have you in my life!”
5) Do treasure yourself and take care of yourself as a role model for your child. Many parents treasure their children but not themselves. Think about how you are living your life. Are you maximizing your potential? Enjoying how you spend your time? If parents are not able to live extraordinary lives and let themselves shine for all to enjoy, what kind of lives are we modeling for our children?
Jacksonville Country Day School
Located in Jacksonville, FL, Jacksonville Country Day School is a private school for Pre-K 3 through 5th grade. JCDS prepares students for a healthy and productive lifetime of intellectual exploration, character development, and social responsibility.
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