Today we're going to be talking about gratitude and resilience.
And these are,
These are a little bit of sort of big words,
Aren't they?
But they're very important words.
And I encourage you to really consider,
That's another big word,
Isn't it?
Really think about these words,
And you can maybe tell your parents or your guardians or whoever's around you what these words mean,
Because they're important words and they're going to make you feel good,
Not just now,
But over time.
Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness,
A feeling of joy,
Expressing how good we feel for the good things in our life.
Yeah,
It's very easy to focus on the bad things,
You know,
We have to go to bed,
We have to clean up,
We feel annoyed,
We're tired,
It's very easy to focus on those things.
But it feels really good to focus on the good things.
A gratitude practice,
Something that we're going to look at today,
Is saying thanks for the good things we have in our life.
Because the more we say thank you for the good things we have in our life,
The better we feel and the more we value those good things,
And the more those good things will make us feel good.
It's almost like thinking about how good they make us feel makes us feel even better about them.
But the first step is to start thinking about all the different things in our life that are good.
Can you tell me,
Can you speak out loud,
Something that you are grateful for,
Something that you're happy about in your life,
Something that you enjoy.
Maybe it's your house,
The last food you ate,
Playing with someone,
A friend or a family member,
Maybe it's a special toy,
Maybe it's a holiday you went on,
Can you tell me something you feel grateful for.
Now,
If you're anything like me,
When I start thinking about things that I feel good about,
Do you know what instantly pops up?
Some things that I feel bad about,
It's like,
Oh I feel good about this,
But what about all these other bad things?
Yeah,
I played with this person,
But this bad thing happened.
You know what?
This is where we're talking about resilience and gratitude and growth.
Bad things do happen,
Sometimes we feel sad,
Sometimes we hurt ourselves,
You might be playing at a park that you really love and then you hurt yourself and you're like,
Oh I'm not grateful for this park,
I hurt myself here,
I never want to go back.
It's fair enough,
It's fair enough that you feel that way.
But if we sit with that gratitude,
If we sit with the good feelings that have come,
We'll very quickly be able to acknowledge that sometimes bad stuff happens,
But there's also heaps and heaps and heaps of good stuff.
It's like there's one drop of bad stuff,
But there's a million drops of good stuff.
And wouldn't it be better to focus on the good stuff rather than the bad stuff?
This is an act of growing our resilience,
That's the other big word that I wanted you to know about.
Resilience is the idea that yeah,
Sometimes bad things happen,
But we can push through it and we'll be okay.
It's sort of learning how to get up if we fall down,
We're resilient.
And one of the best ways to grow our resilience is to practice gratitude.
What I want you to do right now is think about three things that you are grateful for today.
And they could be big things or small things,
But just tell me,
Speak out loud to me,
To the person that you're with,
Whoever,
Things that you are grateful for.
What are you grateful for right now?
What things have happened today that you are happy about?
And do you know what a really cool thing about gratitude is?
You can actually think about the good things that are going to happen,
Maybe tomorrow,
Maybe in a week,
Sometime in the future,
Some really amazing things are going to happen.
Can you give thanks in advance for those things?
Because they're going to come,
Good things are going to happen in your life.
And isn't that really cool?
Yeah,
Let's thank the fact that those good things are coming.
And do you know what we can also be grateful for,
And a gratitude practice?
For ourselves,
For the strengths and abilities and the things that we've overcome.
What are you grateful for about yourself?
Maybe you're really good at reading or writing or maths.
Maybe you're a super fast runner.
Maybe you're very caring and compassionate.
Maybe it's some other trait that you love about yourself or that people love about you.
Can you tell me?
Can you say out loud something that you are grateful for about yourself,
Some gratitude towards yourself?
Maybe it was a time that you practiced and practiced and practiced and beat a level of a video game,
Or practice and practice and practiced to shoot a goal in basketball or soccer or some other sport.
Maybe it was a time you really tried super hard to read that book and you finally got it right.
What is it about yourself you are grateful for or happy with?
Tell me.
Let me know.
Now,
I want you to take a deep,
Slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and promise me something.
The next time you are feeling sad,
The next time you're feeling angry or you've hurt yourself,
Take another deep,
Slow breath in that moment and acknowledge the pain and the anger and the annoyance,
Whatever has happened,
But also just in the back of your mind,
Just a little plant,
A little seed,
Little thought.
What can I be grateful for?
Even in spite of these bad feelings that are arising,
What good can I feel even though I'm a little bit hurt right now?
Just allow that seed to grow because if you do,
Eventually the pain will fall away and you'll be left sitting with gratitude and resilience and happiness for the good things that are happening and are going to happen in your life.
Thank you for joining me today and you know what?
I am grateful that you're here with me.
Have a good one.
Catch ya.
