If you Google the words grateful and entitled in the same search, over twenty-nine million results will pop up. Incredible, isn’t it? And it’s no wonder, considering we want our children to be happy, popular and accepted, feel no rejection, and receive medals, trophies, and certificate for their achievements! How can our children possibly feel grateful when we feel entitled ourselves?

Entitled to a good life free from pain. Entitled to have what we want when we want it.

It’s a struggle to feel grateful every day, isn’t it? As school winds down for the year and the kids are about to be home every day, I can’t help thinking about the 2Wrds I know I’ll be saying to Thing 1 and Thing 2 all summer: BE GRATEFUL.

Be grateful for what you have. Be grateful you have a roof over your head. Be grateful you have food to eat. But looking in the mirror, I wonder if I’ve heeded my own advice.

A dear friend once told me that she wakes up every morning reciting out loud what she is thankful for. Having raised four kids of her own, she is now raising her baby nephew. She will tell you it’s not easy, but she knows her purpose is to provide a safe and loving home for him. She could have turned her back, feeling entitled to an easy retirement, but she didn’t. She is thankful every day for her life and for the privilege of raising another child.

I think it comes down to a choice. We can choose to be to be grateful and appreciative of this life we’ve been given or we can choose to view our circumstances as obstacles in our journey to happiness. What is your choice?

Do you choose to be grateful or choose to complain? As we offer words of advice to our children this summer, may they also reach deep into our own souls and teach us to BE GRATEFUL.

What r ur 2Wrds? Comment below. For more encouragement and inspiration, subscribe now!