If you are like me and most parents, you have had to tell your kids more than once: “You don’t know how good you have it!” More than likely you’ve uttered lines such as, “Eat your vegetables, there are children starving in Africa” or the like.
And if you haven’t, well congratulations you’re in the 1 percent!
So, after reading a bit on personal development like I like to do, one of the things that I stumbled upon was about having a positive outlook on life. And one of the keys to having a positive outlook was to think about the things that you are grateful for in your life and to acknowledge them first thing in the morning.
How I Learned This Trick & How You Can Too
One evening my 6 year old was going on and on about how she can’t fall asleep on her own. She would always say, “Mommy, what should I think about?”
I would tell her to close her eyes and think about something fun or what she was going to do in school the next day, but nothing really worked. And the crying and back and forth would continue until one of us put our foot down.
So, this night I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I told her, “As you are lying in bed tonight, I want you to think of 3 things that you are thankful for. And in the morning before school, I want you to tell me what they are and why you are thankful for them.”
So, to bed she went. And the next morning when she woke up, she proceeded to tell me what she was thankful for. The list was hardly surprising, her toys, her dolls, me. So, I said “Good Job”. And off to school she went.
The next night we did the same thing, but I told her this time you can’t use anything you have used before, because I wanted her to really think about the things that she takes for granted.
As the days went on, I was amazed at the things she was now noticing that she didn’t before. Her vision, a roof over her head, her legs and being able to hear were a few.
As days turned to weeks and she thought more and more about these things, it eventually turned into things I never thought she would say, such as; school, so she could learn. Her mind so she could make decisions and a heart so she could love.
What a profound change in a 6 year old in a matter of weeks and all by making the smallest of changes.
5 Minutes That Will Literally Change Your Life
Thinking of 3 things that you are thankful for doesn’t take 5 minutes for her to do. Yet, her entire perspective on life has changed.
That is the power of small changes performed every day!
And the best part is that this doesn’t work just for small children. It works for everyone. Start your day and end your night thinking about things that you are thankful for. I guarantee those 5 minutes will make you feel entirely different about how you view your life!