Where’s Your Gratitude List?

We believe that gratitude is a key element to happiness.

The power of negative emotions in the lives of the troubled teen girls and boys that attend the Family Foundation School is often clear from day one.  Rage, disgust, shame, resentment, contempt, fear, distress, to name but a few, can all hold a student in their tight grip, leaving no room for any positive emotions and making it difficult to find a starting place that can lead to the spiritual progress that recovery seeks.

“When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.” – Elie Wiesel

Experience teaches that an attitude of gratitude is a powerful antidote to the havoc that negative emotions play in our lives.  It’s an amazing experience to have the sunlight of deep appreciation dispel the darkness of our negative emotions.  The challenge is to trust that reaching for gratitude amidst the often debilitating experiences of negative emotions can actually make a difference.

Clearly this idea is not a new one.

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent
of all the others.” ~ Cicero

“If the only prayer you say in your life is ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” – Meister Eckhart

See this list for more valuable quotes relating to gratitude.