Day 20: Three lessons I want my children to learn from me

1. Be grateful
I have talked quite a lot about gratitude in this blog so far, and hence it’s not surprising it’s also one of the things I wish to pass on to my children as part of my way of preparing them for life. My boys are still a tad too young to embrace the concept fully, but my daughter is old enough to get it. She actually understood me so well that for example last night before going to bed, when she already had her head on the pillow and eyes closed, she all of a sudden said: "Mom, I'm so grateful I have such a good mom. I love you." Out of the blue this might sound like a really strange thing for a child to say, but then again I have been telling my kids for a long time now every once in a while the following words: "You are an amazing child and I'm so grateful I get to be your mother. I love you." It makes their faces shine. They love to hear it and I love to say it. It made me very happy to notice my daughter has really understood my words.

2. Happiness is a state of mind
I am trying to teach my kids that happiness doesn't depend on what you have or who you are on the outside. Happiness is not a destination in the future. Happiness really depends on how you react to things and it's there all the time waiting for you to take a deep breath and discover it. Do the things that make you happy and you are making the world a better place. Sounds cheesy, but it's also very true.

3. You are as important as anyone else, and everyone else is just as important as you are
Never sell yourself short. The world you were born into were made by the people who were here before you. Everything you see is someone else's idea of how the world should be. You should figure out what you can add or edit and do your best to pursue this. When you notice you are lacking something, work on it. When you notice someone else is lacking something, work on it.

Yes, it's all noble and stuff and of course I don't embody and teach these every breathing moment, also because they are very difficult things to teach. Kids learn from an example and I only hope I can be good enough example for them to ignite the spark to discover these things. This said these are the lessons ideally I'd love my children to carry with them as they grow.


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