After reading this article, one major finding that was really striking to me was that most people today have dramatically declined in their attitude of gratitude as compared to 20 years back. Worse still, it is the youngest group (18- to 24-year-olds) who rank the lowest in expressing gratitude. The finding further insinuates that being entitled to almost everything has majorly contributed towards making children ungrateful for anything. Worse enough, the finding indicates that lots of parents have experienced their children’s ingratitude that they do not expect them to be grateful any longer. The finding further indicates that today’s culture rewards arrogance rather than humility and has caught up with the children hence their low levels of gratitude.
This research finding is important as it sheds more light on the current trends in society as pertains to raising children. While parents consider providing for all their children’s needs as important towards making them feel better and have a positive approach towards life, the results point towards the opposite. Considering the innumerable material possessions, opportunities, and privileges that most children relish through no sweat of their own, the sense of entitlement swells up in them. As a result, it has only caused them to have bloated ego instead of the required self-esteem hence the ungrateful character. The ego is further orchestrated by the modern culture which disregards humility and treating everyone respectably. I believe that this is a pertinent area for all parents who seek to raise children who treat people respectably and express gratitude on a regular basis.
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In applying what I have learned from this article to some aspect of my life, I will begin with eliminating all complaints about regular things such the weather. Therefore, the first step towards cultivating gratitude will involves counting my blessings every day (Wallace, 2018). I will cultivate a culture of keeping a journal where I will be record something to be grateful for on a daily basis. I will be grateful regardless of how a day turns out by bearing in mind that I must not always get my way in everything. Instead of focusing on what can possibly go wrong in my day, I will be focusing on the things that I enjoy for free. This includes the ability to walk, hear, see, touch and feel things since without these senses, some of the things cannot be enjoyed. For instance, without sight, one cannot enjoy watching their favorite movie and so on.
The article has raised in me a question regarding comparison. Comparison features prominently among children in both the haves and the haves not. They tend to look at what they have in comparison to the next child and what their parent allow or disallow them compared to other children. For instance, you may hear a child comparing their food to the next one and only look at what could be probably wrong with their food. This leaves me wondering as to the connection between comparison and the low rates of gratitude among children in modern times.
Reference
Wallace, J.B. (2018). How to Raise More Grateful Children. The Wallstreet Journal.
