The world is simultaneously seemingly on hold.
We have paused.
Travel has stopped and unessential movement is prohibited. If I didn’t know better, I would claim we are living in a shared dream — or, better yet, nightmare.
But at the same time I can’t help but notice there is so much good to be found amidst the unthinkable.
Just look at the health care providers who selflessly attend to the sick, while their families pray for their safe return. Just look at the grocery store clerks who stand behind glass barriers, their faces covered — except for their eyes that crinkle with smiles. Just look at the empty parks and the pathways through the forest and the people who are staying home and doing their parts. Just look at see through waterways and the clear pollution free air and the way the birds and fish move without abandon.
There are the obvious and publicized atrocities that have been occurring world wide, and then there are the sweet reminders that there is so much human goodness in the word too – despite it all.
Just look at the local beauty businesses that are donating masks and gloves to the front line workers, or the moms who are bent over sewing machines making hand made surgical masks out of their material collections to meet the shortage of our health care workers.
Just look at the children that hang encouraging art at a safe distance from their front porches and balconies, while waving at strangers and chalking up their driveways with encouraging messages.
Just look around and you will see the good ones doing their best to keep spirits high!
But the truth is, it’s hard.
It’s hard for the adults who suffer job losses and health worries, of cource.
But at times, I wonder, is it even more difficult for the children; the ones who have lost their education, their friends, their sense of freedom, their wild abandon and their worry free existence, without truly understanding the depth of their losses??
In a time when the news is constant and terrifying, let’s do our best to remind our children that their world has only momentarily stopped, but the earth will always keep moving.
I often worry about the children and how this will affect the trajectory of their lives, their mental health and their anxiety.
But I also wonder, that if we continue to encourage their creativity and focus their positivity, will the halt they are facing in the time line of their lives end up feeling like a time where they were FINALLY allowed to enjoy the gift of slow living. Even revel in it??
What if we turn off the news more, protect their little minds more, assure them that they are safe and loved more and remind them that they have so much MORE to look forward to?
Perhaps during this time, when the adults feel like the world is ending, our littles could believe for a new and better beginning?
Maybe? Could that truly happen?
I want to believe that we still have abundant choices in front of us and they begin with the conversations that happen in our homes and between us.
So, I created some gratitude prompts I hope will be a valuable tool for creating a sense of calm in your life and in your families.
DOWNLOAD FREE GRATITUDE PROMPTS HERE!
THIS FREE DOWNLOAD filled with gratitude prompts is one I have always imagined making. Finally, it is finished and ready for you to put into good use!
This ten page, downloadable book is filled with 100 questions that are bound to get the conversation going between parent and child and vice versa.
It will encourage families to remain focused on the things that bring them joy and will remind them of the exact past and present interactions that create happiness within their current lives.
Out of these 100 questions, only a dozen questions are specifically focused on a child’s typical day and outlook. In reality, EVERYONE can benefit by using this free workbook/questionnaire to rediscover what fills them up with positive thinking.
This free download can be used as a discussion starter FOR ANYONE! It can be used as a jumping off point for everyone wanting to journal, or for those who want to start and end their day with quiet grateful contemplation.
May you find within these pages reminders of what you love about your current situation and what you love most about your LIFE! May you grow closer to whomever you share your responses with and may you learn more about what truly makes you uniquely happy.
This ten page PDF download is meant to encourage you and your family while improving connection with loved ones during this time of physical distancing.
If you find distance between you and a loved one at this point in time, take turns answering these questions via a phone call, FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Snap Chat, Skype, email or through any sharing medium.
To get, simply click on the picture above, save as a pdf and print off. No email or buy in required.
This is simply my way of serving you and yours when I can’t be on the front lines with the real MVP’s.
My sincere hope is that you can be reminded that you have the power within you to create an attitude of gratitude. Even during the hardest of times.
xxx
Love, Bethany Gier
Author of This Little Estate
