A Parenting Manifesto
If they come out from under our roof with only one healthy tool in the belt around their lives, let it be gratitude. Let them see beauty in dark and light times, always. Let us teach them to see the thousands of small gifts in every day, every hour.
Hearts and eyes of gratitude must come first even before faith or self love or physical health because without it those other So Important Things can’t be found. Gratitude is the road, the gateway to holistic health. An outward view of thankfulness turns the inside toward an approach to all things that is fierce and wonderful, confident and free. We must teach this kind of health with our lives–to turn our faces to light and speak good things, turning over every situation to act like Pollyanna silver-lining finders even in simple ways like holding hands with gratitude lists at the end of each day around our table.
The health of our children does not start with how much TV they watch or how much organic food they eat or what kind of medical care is provided for them. Gratitude is the umbrella over all the things that make up a healthy life. This is our parenting manifesto, so to speak, and I hope to instill it with a daily fire that keeps my children positive and full of an unconditional love that stems from grateful hearts.
Maybe this manifesto feels like too much pressure, but that’s the thing. If I’m grateful, I see the simplicity of this. To keep it as this. Be grateful. Speak grateful. Live grateful. And then allow grace to fill in the gaps of all the other things that weigh us down in our Parenting Job. We can be free of the fear and the feelings that we’ll never teach them enough if we see the world through a grateful heart and then let go and watch the magic of the health it brings to the lives of our children, spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally…
Gratitude is our manifesto, and it is enough. It is everything because it’s the start.
Children’s health is at the top of every mother’s mind. What’s your favorite tip for raising a healthy baby? By replying, you will be entered to win an exclusive Million Moms Challenge Gift Pack, which includes an iPad2, a custom-made Million Moms Challenge pendant and a $50 donation in your name to Global Giving.
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Million Moms Challenge. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest runs November 14 to December 18, 2011. A random winner will be announced by December 20, 2011.