It’s the day Americans choose to celebrate with turkey, canned cranberry sauce, and football. Yes! It’s the day we decide to have a thankful heart. At least, that’s the idea.
However, that can be a challenge when you have an ungrateful relative. Maybe they had a challenging year. Or perhaps that has been their demeanor since you’ve known them. Regardless, one dour soul can bring down the whole group.
Ungrateful Kids
While Bruce Springsteen sang, Everybody’s got a hungry heart; it’s also common for everyone to get an ungrateful heart. If they are in a household where all their needs are fulfilled, they can be unaware of all the blessings they take for granted. This article has excellent strategies for dealing with an ungrateful child. Here are the main tips:
- Point out ungratefulness
- Teach empathy
- Delay gratification
- Foster gratitude
- Focus on helping others
These are great tips for adults as well as children. After all, we can get too comfortable and feel entitled too quickly. But we don’t have to look very far to find someone worse off than us. As we count our blessings, let us consider how we can help someone else.
We all have our challenges. However, it is just as easy to find reasons for appreciation as obsessing about what’s wrong with our lives. Each blessing is a light that combats darkness. Let us choose to shine some light in our lives as well as the lives of others.
Thankfulness can be a challenge when your heart isn’t into it. Sometimes it helps to get the ball rolling and give some thanks even when you don’t feel like it. It takes a while to get your face looking the part, though!
May you find plenty of reasons to have a thankful heart. And may everyone have a happy Thanksgiving.
Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.
