The habit of expressing gratitude has a powerful impact resulting in less depression, better self-regulation, greater optimism and happiness, a stronger immune system, and lower levels of stress hormones and blood pressure. Here’s a high-5 for teaching gratitude!
Whether it be by saying a sincere “Thank You,” writing gratitude entries in a journal, or pausing in life to take the time to count one’s blessings, it’s the habit that delivers the best dividends in life’s quality.
As mentioned in Surah Luqman (31:12) “…Any who is grateful does so to the benefit of his own soul….” This practice also shifts us away from the toxic thoughts of envy, frustration, and negativity.
Research supports gratitude practices
Research psychologists at UNC, Duke, and NC State found that kids as young as 6 years of age could differentiate between an insincere “thank you” versus a sincere one. That early ability to perceive genuine gratitude indicates that this age can be when we effectively teach habits that can positively affect pro-social behavior, which in turn can support the child’s social future.
How can we teach this to children?
1) Modeling the behavior ourselves, we can directly coach kids to realize the health and happiness benefit.
2) Point out to them how fortunate they are when you can notice others who are not as fortunate.
3) Have children write a gratitude letter to someone in their lives. University of Pennsylvania researchers had over 400 adults write gratitude letters to people the appreciated but never overtly thanked. The positive effects of this simple exercise were still felt 12 weeks later.
4) Try to plan a regular time each day to reflect on “what went right” in their day. Even if bad things happened, one can usually cite something positive with a bit of effort. This can off-set the gravity of those bad things and teach them to keep a balanced perspective.
Happy children, happy lives
Such practices in gratitude and development of awareness can yield happier children. That is correlated with many other positive outcomes and is a gift for their lives.
Shouldn’t our children be happy? Many are not, so this is an effective set of strategies you can do today. Look to DEFINE 360 to learn more about our lesson plans, workshops, and online courses for character development and emotional intelligence.
