Character Is Everything: What Is Gratefulness?
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Children today have what I call an entitlement mentality. Often they believe that what ever they have gotten or are going to get they were entitled to. Children who get what they want when they want it never develop a grateful attitude, and are never happy with what they have. In fact as soon as they get what they want they may appear happy for a while but it is only a short time before they are ungrateful for what they have and look for something else to make them happy. It’s almost as if that there is a giant hole in the middle of the child that can never be filled by anything, or anyone. The definition of gratefulness is having the ability to let others know by my words and actions how they have benefited my life. The opposite of gratefulness is unthankfulness.
Often people wonder why others don’t appreciate them or seem ungrateful towards them no matter what they say or do. Parents wonder how their children became so ungrateful even though they have given them everything. Many people go through life without ever feeling appreciated or acknowledged. The person who feels unappreciated needs to ask themselves how much time do they spend praising others, speaking kind words, displaying kind actions or just sending a simple thank you note to a person letting them know how much they are appreciated for their actions. A truly grateful person recognizes the investment that others have made in their life and makes a deliberate effort to show his or her appreciation. Being grateful is not a passive state of thinking, but an active role of expression.
Children who are spoiled develop an attitude of ungratefulness The parents are the first to notice this attitude and really don’t know what to do so it almost becomes a popularity contest. Parents give their heart and soul to their children along with all types of other needs and wants, with the hope that this will develop a relationship with their children. Unfortunately the parents discover how ungrateful their children are, usually much later in their child’s life. The children not only develop ungratefulness toward their parents but to their teachers, and ultimately to employers, and as they grow older towards their own family.
In order to change from ungratefulness to thankfulness a person needs to learn to praise others and show their appreciation for other people. Children need to learn how to give praise as well as receive it. They also need to get into the habit of writing thank you notes to others expressing their appreciation for another person’s action. A grateful person knows how to be content with what they have and they have learned how to take care of the things that they have bought or that they have been given. A grateful person has the ability to count their blessings rather than focusing on their burdens.
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