A Culture of Gratitude
surround yourself with thankful people
Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Here are some quick thoughts on surrounding yourself with grateful people, followed by a roundup of last week’s posts. Enjoy! 😊
One of the biggest tips for being more thankful is to surround yourself with thankful people.
If having a conversation is like going to a U-pick farm, what kind of fruit are you plucking up and eating?
What kind of fruit would come out of a farm like this?
“…But that’s not even the worst part. So yeah, my life sucks right now.”
“My boss is the worst.”
“Need birth control? My little monsters should convince you not to have kids.”
“Ugh, I hate how I look right now.”
“I don’t think she even knows what she wants in life.”
What about a farm like this?
“I can’t believe I get to live here.”
“…And that’s something I really appreciate about my job.”
“My kids did something really sweet yesterday.”
“It’s a really tough situation, but I’m so thankful that _______.”
“I love that about her.”
I definitely struggle with saying things like in those first examples, and I have friends who do, too. But one of the many problems with gossip and negativity is that if someone is talking poorly about someone else to you, they’re probably also talking poorly to someone else about you. What feels rewarding in the moment is actually life-crushing. We owe it to ourselves to eat better (metaphorical) food.
(See also our posts: The Truth About Gossip, What Curiosity and Humility Are Not, and Daydreaming About Courage.)
Have you ever been around a person who you know isn’t living in ideal circumstances but who speaks as if they’re the most blessed person on the planet? Have you ever known someone who seems so full that there’s no need to tear others down? I encourage you to take a moment to think about people you may know who are like that—even if they’re not your close friends (yet)—and make it your goal to learn from them.
And wouldn’t it be wonderful to be that kind of person? Wouldn’t it be amazing to be a person who people go to, knowing that you will listen to them and hurt alongside them, but that you also don’t feel the need to outdo their suffering or offer them cheap comforts of gossip?
I encourage you this week to seek out and to create a culture of thankfulness. Notice the people who are doing it right. I recently realized that someone I’ve been friends with for six years has probably never spoken poorly about another person to me—aside from some kid complaints, which have to happen sometimes 😉—and that’s one of the reasons I feel so safe with her. Our conversations are happy and hopeful, even when they’re hard. I want other people to feel safe like that with me.
Here are the posts we published last week! Click on them to read the full thing. (Fewer posts go to your emails now, but we’re still publishing every weekday.) Posts with a 🔒 are for paid subscribers only; here’s a free trial):
Activity: Simple, Stunning Art with Cutouts 🔒
It’s crazy how much fun and creativity kids can have by simply walking around your house and yard with a piece of paper. Cut out a section of an image—we provide free printables in the post—and your kids will have so much fun creating patterns and being “fashion designers.” Bonus if you use a picture of them! Full post here.
Book Quotes: "When we are savoring the moment, we cannot be regretting the past." -Robert Emmons 🔒
We continued sharing quotes from Thanks!: How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier by Robert Emmons. Full post here.
Meal Inspiration: If You Give a Home Chef Some Garlic…
In the style of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… we share five flavorful, simple meals you can make using leftovers from the previous meal. Do things that you’ll thank yourself for later! Full post here.
Let's Discuss: Gratitude 😌
Here are nine conversation questions (plus several ?’s from the book quote posts) that we’ve been using in our family…around the table, in the car, on date night, etc. Hopefully they help! Full post here.
We’ve got some great content for you planned this week, and while we try to keep the emails minimal, there are some that we just can’t keep to ourselves 😉 Feel free to unsubscribe if it’s too much, but I’m personally so grateful to those who are reading along.
I hope your week is super sweet and—yep—full of gratitude.
Warmly,
Hope from Family Scripts