Count Your Blessings

Since Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple of days, today is a good time to talk about all the many blessings we have in our lives.

I saw a great video that illustrates blessings we have that many of us take for granted. A man wakes up wrapped up like a gift. Next he unwraps his wife, who is also wrapped up like a gift. Then 2 kids walk into the room, and yep, you guessed it- they’re wrapped like gifts too. See the entire video here. Everything in the video that they show wrapped as gifts are indeed blessings that we need to be thankful for year round! A home, family, food, a car, shoes, coffee, and so much more!

It’s so easy to get caught up in wanting more and more stuff, isn’t it? Especially this time of year. TV commercials, newspaper ads, and catalogs bombard us with must have items. “Buy now! Pay later!” “Best deal of the year! Don’t miss out!” But, are we really missing out? Ponder that for a while.

Let’s help our kids (and ourselves) focus on our blessings and show our gratitude for the “little things.” If you have a place to live, food to eat, and clothing to wear, you are among the rich! In December 2017, an average of 63,495 men, women, and children slept in city homeless shelters each night in New York City; an all time record according to the coalitionforthehomelss.org. And that’s just in one city!

The dataface.com sites that in 2018, there were around 554,000 homeless people in all of the U.S. according to the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. And these are just the statistics for the U.S. We know that in some 3rd world countries, things are much worse. But the problem of homelessness in the U.S. is “getting worse” according to dataface.com.

This next video would be great to show your kids. Remember the Berenstain Bears? They always had a lesson to learn. In this episode I found on YouTube, brother and sister bear are both feeling less fortunate because their friends have more stuff than them. Sister bear is jealous of her friend that has many “Bearbie dolls” and she only has one. Brother bear feels like he can’t beat his friend in video games because he doesn’t have all the games that his friend has. The story continues, and by the end of it, the cubs learn they have a lot to be thankful for.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OmIHIdHo0U

After watching this video with your kids, ask them what they are thankful for. Make a list and keep it in a safe place. Then, in the future when they are feeling like they’re missing out, you can pull out the list and remind them of their many blessings.

The psychological impact of gratitude is amazing!According to Psychology Today’s website, gratitude opens the door to more relationships, improves physical and psychological health, enhances empathy, reduces aggression, improves sleep, self esteem, and mental strength. Wow! Lay the foundation of gratitude and thankfulness with your kids now so that as they grow up, they can benefit from these many qualities.

For those that celebrate, I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you take time to count your blessings today, and everyday! Let me know what you are most thankful for in the comments section!

Until next time, remember, our words and actions really do matter!

 

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