Let Me Point Out A Few Things

Let Me Point Out A Few Things

I truly believe in being grateful and thankful for all things -
*Life
*Home
*Job
*Food
*Safe Travels (When I Go Out)
*Health
*Vision
*Family & Friends
*Favorable weather during winter months
*Et, al. . .


I know some people who probably don't give being thankful and grateful a second thought.


[Thankfulness is an emotion. Gratitude is an attitude of appreciation under any circumstance. Gratitude involves being thankful, but it is more than that. Gratitude means expressing Thankfulness and being appreciative of life daily, even when nothing exciting happens].


Here's an example of what I mean.


Constance and Stanley have three children (fictitious couple) – two sons and one daughter. Stanley is retired after working forty years in housekeeping at a hospital. Constance had considered retiring when she turned sixty-five, but something stopped her - adult children.


Constance and Stanley have chronic health issues, which worsen daily. Their disposable income is normally used for medication and co-payments for doctor visits. In the past three years, that disposable money has gone to their adult children, never to be seen again.


When the subject of money comes up during conversations, an argument ensues. Thus, Constance and Stanley barely speak to their adult children – not by their choice. Their children have chosen to distance themselves from their parents – until they need money.


"I need money for food. I used my paycheck for rent."
"Can you help me pay for car repairs so I can get to work?"
"My check is short this pay, and my electric bill is due."
"Your grandchild needs shoes, and I don't have the money."
"Can you loan me a few dollars so your grandchild won't be left out on the school trip?"
"Can you loan me a few dollars? I want to take out a new girl. I get paid next week."
"I lost my job. Can you help me out until I find another one?"


There's nothing wrong with helping adult children. However, I believe it causes serious problems when the money isn't returned, parents are ignored until money issues arise, and signs of ungratefulness are evident.


When adult children use their parents for their selfish needs, it makes me sad. Parents are precious. They should be treated as such. Show me a perfect parent, and I'll show you a perfect person. There's no such thing.


Adult Children
Regardless of your upbringing, you are where you are, partly because of your parents.
Maybe things were not ideal when you were growing up, but you made it. You're alive, and you are an adult now, paving your own way.


What would you do if your parents started saying "No" each time you reached out for money?


They haven't made any repairs on their house because the money is in your pocket. Why should they call a neighbor to drive them to the doctor or take them to the market when you are available?


When was the last time you called to say how are you? Is there anything I can do for you?


What kind of example are you showing your children? Yeah, I know what you're thinking – "My child is going to look after me or take care of me. I treated them better than my parents treated me."


Unless you can see into the future, I wouldn't count on one hundred percent loyalty from your children once they start living life and going their separate ways. Am I saying your children are going to abandon you? Absolutely not.


What I'm saying is, learn to be grateful and thankful. It's never too late. Practice it daily, genuinely from the heart. It goes a long way.


This article isn't aimed at anyone in particular. It’s been on my mind for a while. I wasn't sure how to approach it until now.


Being grateful and thankful is something that we work toward in everyday life. It grows as we mature and learn to care about the things that truly matter.


“The giving of thanks is powerful beyond what we may realize. It brings many benefits to our lives and to the lives of other people. Gratitude to God makes our relationship with Him better, and expressing appreciation and thanks to others certainly improves our relationships with them (Joyce Meyer).”


When we fail to give thanks and show appreciation for the sacrifices of others so that we may eat, have the means to travel to work, and pay our bills, we miss out on so much.


This is food for thought. Adult children, when you reach out to your (aged, retired, ill) parents who are on fixed incomes, please practice being grateful and thankful. A selfish attitude is the enemy and increases the wedge between families.


Problems are created when we forget our blessings or begin to take them and others for granted because we’ve had them for so long. Something goes missing when others are taken for granted. Hearts are in the wrong place.


If you haven’t been taught to be grateful and thankful, now is the time to learn.


If you live long enough, one day, when you’re older, you’re going to need help, everybody does. Should you feel slighted if you don’t receive the support you were counting on?


A thankful and grateful heart must be shown through our actions.


“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” —John F. Kennedy


“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.” —William Faulkner


“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” —Voltaire


“When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears. —Anthony Robbins




Edited by: Michael A. Robinson Jr