Recently, I noticed my kids were whining a lot, and I was pretty annoyed. After all, they live a very comfortable life.
I wanted a change.
I was inspired while reading “The Magic” by Rhonda Byrne, the woman behind “The Secret” documentary and the book.
“The Magic” says the secret to a happy, abundant life is living in gratitude.
Each chapter has “Magic Practice” activities, such as spend the day saying thank you from the minute you get out of bed to the end of the day. Another suggests saying thank you to your organs.
It also instructs readers to create a gratitude journal and every day write 10 things for which they are grateful.
That gave me an idea. I found notebooks and gave them to my little whiners. I invited them to decorate their gratitude journals, and I taught them how to use them by showing them my journal and the 10 things I wrote down every day.
And so it began. Their thankfuls are cute and hilarious, like “I am grateful for Moses,” as in the guy with the burning bush. It’s worth it alone just to see what they will come up with.
But I have to say, I think it’s working. They seem happier and less whiny. When they fight, I invite them to write in their gratitude journals, and their mood immediately brightens.
That’s because the journals keep us focused on being grateful for what we have. It makes us conscious of how good we have it. One child wrote, “I am thankful for shoes.” When is the last time you were thankful you do not have to walk around barefoot?
In my line of work, I see that the lack of gratitude is one way folks end up with too much stuff in their homes. By not being grateful for what has shown up in their lives, they are left with a void. Then, they try to fill that void by shopping for more stuff. And the cycle continues.
If you want to get happy, get grateful. I invite you to read “The Magic” and create a gratitude journal for yourself and, especially, for your children.
Join us on our journey to filling the void with gratefuls and watch what amazing things show up in your life.