“Now is a gift, that is why it’s called the present.”
Have you ever had your kids look at you impatiently and roll their eyes and say, “C’mon! Live in the NOW!”?
Did you know that behind the sassy-ness, there is actually wisdom in those words? Think about it for a minute. All we really have is right now in this very moment. You don’t have yesterday, you don’t have tomorrow, you don’t even have 5 minutes ago. It’s all right now.
If you spend your days worrying about tomorrow or dwelling on yesterday, you are wasting the only thing you really have…the moment you are in right now. Have you ever said to yourself, “Oh, when I finally lose the rest of this baby-fat then I will be happy” or “When we get a bigger house, then I will be happy.”?
For some weird reason, our society programs us to feel that we are not good enough and we have to get more, do more, or be someone other than we are in order to find happiness. Our kids are picking up on this idea that they have to find happiness outside of themselves which is setting them up for a life of dissatisfaction because true and lasting happiness can only be found within, in this moment right now.
So if you’re supposed to leave yesterday and tomorrow alone, what are you supposed to do right now and what does that have to do with self-esteem?
Well, that brings us to the next important step in building self-esteem and also in finding true and lasting happiness in your own life. 
How to Build Self-Esteem in Your Kids: Enjoy Today
We get so busy in our lives and we rush, rush, rush everywhere we go and multitask till our smoke starts coming out of our ears that we miss the beauty in the small things in life. When you are screaming down the highway of life at 100+ m.p.h. you are going to miss a lot of beautiful scenery.
Take a side road and show you kids the amazing things that surround us in life and show gratitude for all that we have. “Like what?” you may be asking as your phone starts ringing and the dryer buzzes letting you know there is yet another load to fold and put away.
Well, let’s start right there – you are reading this on your computer (which is a miracle in and of itself ). Someone is calling you on the telephone that could be next door or across the globe and you can talk to them like they were sitting in the room with you. Oh, and as for the laundry … aren’t you glad you don’t have to take your laundry out to a stream and beat it clean over a rock? I know I sure am. There is so much to be grateful for in every moment of life if we take the time to see it and enjoy it.
Gratitude is really the key to happiness. When you can be grateful for who YOU are and for all the things in your life.
Look around your daily life and take note of all the miracles that fill your every moment. Talk to your kids about all these things. Express gratitude OUT LOUD for all the cool amazing stuff in your life, for all the amazing people, for your heart that beats every moment of every day without taking a break.
You know another cool thing about gratitude? You can’t feel grouchy and grateful at the same time…as soon as you focus on gratitude, your mood will shift instantly.
Life is simply incredible. Take 60 Seconds and point out some of its magnificence to your kids.
