Are you cultivating a grateful heart in yourself and your children?
Our welding workshops begin with a “thought for the day” and a discussion. It starts with presenting a thought or a quote and asking the students to write what they think it means and if they agree or disagree. One of the quotes that we discuss is this: “A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.”
When my kids were younger they would complain about having to go to bed because they wanted more of something. My wife and I were quick to correct them and we would ask our kids to say 3 things they were thankful for. I would say, “you can start with your pillow.” We want our kids to be thankful for what they have and to realize the many blessings that they already enjoy. In other words, they didn’t need to look for the next best thing.
Are you able to see the many blessings in your life and are you practicing gratefulness? Do you say thank you to those who are generous with their time and resources with you? Do you expect your children to do the same? I challenge you to look for opportunities to say thank you and show your gratitude to others. It is especially important for us as parents to model thankfulness because our children can become as we are. Thankfully, gratitude becomes a habit the more we practice it.
Being grateful is a good step in the direction of humility. If “a proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves,” then the opposite of the statement would be: a humble man is a grateful man for he is satisfied with what has been provided. When we admit that we don’t deserve anything, then we can begin to see the many blessings that have been provided for us and we can be thankful for them. For instance: a job/career that allows us to purchase food and necessary items. Also we don’t deserve these children that the Lord has provided for us. We didn’t earn them. So we can say, “Thank you for these children that are in my care.”
One way to foster humility and thankfulness is to be grateful for what we have and to realize that we really don’t deserve anything. Our culture says, “you deserve a fancy car, a vacation, an education, a home, and health insurance.” These things are good and some are important, but to say that we deserve them without earning them is unreasonable. We are being told that we are deserving of -or are entitled to- so many things. This simply is not true. If we provide a service or a good that someone values, they could pay us for that good or service, then we could purchase an item, But we should not expect to receive those things simply because we are Americans or because we exist.
The thing to remember is that pride often takes the form of entitlement and assumes that we deserve what we have and more. In other words, when we are prideful others will feel as though we are continually taking from them to satisfy our own desires. When we recognize that we are not “all that” and that what we have has been provided for us we can then be truly grateful. When we are grateful we have a desire to share what we have with others, we begin to look outside of ourselves and find ways to care for others.
As parents we can help our students cultivate this attitude of gratitude. As is the case with most important lessons this is often caught not only taught. We are examples to our children and they will mimic either our pride or our thankfulness. Our children need to see us be grateful and hear us say, “thank you!” When others are serving you, are you thankful for their service, or do you expect them to serve you? At the dinner table when you ask for an item, or when a waiter brings you something, do you say thank you? These small gestures can cultivate thankfulness in us and demonstrate thankfulness to our children.
Another way to see if we operate with a grateful heart is to evaluate if we are content with what we have or are we continually looking for the next best thing, or craving what other people have. We could be in a trap of thinking that we deserve what other people have. Practicing gratitude for what we already have is a good way to combat that covetousness.
I would like to encourage you to continue to cultivate a grateful heart first in yourself and then your children. Don’t dwell on what you are missing, or wish you had. But remember what you have and be thankful for those things. You can begin with your pillow.
Thank you for reading all the way to the end. We have published our schedule for the fall. We will resume workshops the first week of September. Please click here to view the schedule and see the workshop descriptions so you can plan ahead for your fall.