Helping Your Kids Understand Happiness

Helping Your Kids Understand Happiness

Follow these steps and teach them to your children:

The Happiness Decision -- Empower Yourself:
Reinforce their empowerment over their own mental state by encouraging them to choose happiness whenever they want to feel good. Remind them that in any moment, barring mental health issues such as depression that should be treated by a doctor, they can choose to be happy. And if they allow other people places and things power over their happiness

Happiness Boosters -- Create Positive Mood Whenever You Want:
Teach them how to boost their mood with a happiness practice filled with daily routines of a gratitude, kindness and positive reflection. Encourage dialogue around "I am grateful for ------------------- because it adds--------------------- to my life." Encourage acts of kindness as part of a family contest or even part of allowance or bargaining agreements.

Happiness Challenges -- Tools for Resiliency:
Use acceptance, forgiveness, and compassion to overcome adversity. Teach your children to respond with kindness, love, optimism, gratitude, and zest when placed in an adversarial position. Show them how to see the good that may come from the "bad" in life.

Heart-Based MAPS -- Follow your Heart:
Encourage them to see the deeper meaning and purpose in life or things they are doing in the day-to-day. Encourage them to be true to themselves by having acceptance and confidence with who they are deep inside. Encourage them to use their strengths.

Faith -- Trust in the Unknown:
When faced with the unknown, encourage faith and trust. We often feel fear or easily project a negative future when it comes to the unknown. Create a sense of empowerment through positive thinking and realistic optimism.