Gratitude exercise

[HalleysComet]

Hey @JenniferS, what a great habit to get in to! It reminds me of this video I watched, and the young man was reflecting on when he was a teenager and every day it was just "how was school?" and he wasn't really sure if his family really meant it, could he open up to a question like that or do you end up saying "it was good", when maybe it wasn't?

This was the video:

[JenniferS]

thanks for posting the video, always love hearing from teens/young adults.  our kids clearly think about this stuff, comunication is so key isnt it?!  on another note . . . we have added a gratitude 'comment' to our 'pits & cherries' the past two nights at dinner and the kids totally got it, so thanks for heads up on this one (sorry cant remember who posted this but thankyou).

[Beekeeper]

Thanks for sharing this video; it's well presented with great examples

[Sophie-RO]

Hey @JenniferS & @Beekeeper - thanks for the positive feedback on the video! It came through really strongly in our research that parents wanted to hear from young people to help understand so we are more than happy to facilitate that!

Awesome that youre doing gratitude exercises with your kids - a great habit to get into!

[JenniferS]

just wanted to drop by and say thanks for the 'gratitude' post.  we have started off small and are beginning to work up to bigger stuff.  ie. i am grateful for the sun shining today, for my friend walking home with me, to i am grateful i dont have to worry about not having enough to eat, i am grateful we can afford xxxxx, and so on.  i love it when my kids start to recognise the bigger messy context of life . . . . 

[Sophie-RO]

So good @JenniferS - thanks so much for the feedback this is great news....

It's not even just what we believe - it's science!!!
http://www.happify.com/hd/the-science-behind-gratitude/

What do you think?

[JenniferS]

this is an excellent article, thanks!

totally makes sense.

i love the idea of making it social too.

we arent really journal writers in our house but we have added this to our pits & cherries around the table every night. talking about gratitude & appreciation in the family context seems to be working both ways, we get to say how we appreciate each other (and others) & what we have together.

going through the naming and owning of feelings & thoughts with others is a great skill to have.

[Sophie-RO]

love this!

[Mitzi]

Naturally, there's even an iPhone app to prompt you to add to your Gratitude Journal.  Handy. I just pulled up a random gratutude from March 18 which read "It's raining after weeks of heat, I am grateful because I can just stay indoors and enjoy the sounds and smell of the storm."

[Sophie-RO]

Beautiful... on these cold days it is nice to remember that there are times that you are grateful for the cool in summer...