Let us rise up

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”

This call for gratitude is attributed to Buddha, and I swear that even though historians generally agree that he lived sometime between the 6th and 4th century BCE, he must have been thinking about kids in middle school and their parents today when he said it.

May I make a Buddha-esque suggestion to help your days go a bit smoother?

When you find yourself wishing that your middle schooler (or anyone else you’re struggling with) would please do whatever it is you are hoping for, try this fill-in-the blank exercise:

Let me rise up and be thankful, 

for if ______________ (insert person’s name) 

didn’t ______________ (what you were hoping for) a lot today, 

at least they ______________ a little, 

and if they didn’t ________________ a little, 

at least they didn’t _________________ (something worse),

and if they did _______________ (that something worse),

at least they didn’t _______________ (something even worse!);

so let me rise up and be thankful!

Every day, all day long, we create stories in our heads about our experiences. Generally, we each have habits about the way we interpret what happens and the kinds of stories we tell ourselves about life.

Lay a foundation for gratitude by making it a habit to notice both the good and hoped-for as well as the not-so-good, not-so-hoped-for things that happen. This is not to suggest simply looking on the bright side and ignoring the negative. This is about paying accurate attention to the totality of experience and incorporating that into the stories we tell ourselves. A more balanced awareness makes cultivating gratitude so much easier.

Here’s to more resilient wins at home and school,

Anne