Like most parents, if not all, my parents exercised their informed judgment and authority and didn’t let me walk the wrong path. I didn’t understand their reasons until I was older and wise enough to understand that they knew then what was best for me, and I have them to thank for teaching and guiding me. It’s because of them that I became the person I am today.

One might argue that it’s their responsibility so why should we give them so much credit when it’s our life? Well, would you be okay to receive 80% on a test that you aced or a mediocre performance rating after doing stellar work? I don’t think so.

The truth is, our parents don’t even want the praise because most of the time they think they could have done better, but honestly, we should give them all due credit anyway because most of the time they are giving everything they’ve got as parents.

Here are 2 things so common we sometimes forget they count.

Hard Work. When I was 12, my mother had to leave home suddenly to work in the capital city. I didn’t understand why she had to leave her children for work. Little did I know that it was one of the most difficult choices she had to make for our future. She didn’t like being away from us but she had to make that sacrifice so we could afford to attend the best school in town. Both my parents worked hard, not only to give me and my siblings the necessities of life, but also to make sure we were prepared for the opportunities that life would present us. I am where I am now because they worked hard to make sure that I had what I needed to excel in my endeavors.

What my parents were earning then was enough to sustain our family, but with the economy evolving through the years, I think we all know how far PHP500 can go when buying groceries or paying for tuition these days. Because of that, I know many parents who are working 1-2 side jobs on top of their regular jobs to keep their families afloat. Not to mention the global pandemic which has shaken the economy, forcing businesses to close and let go of their employees. Imagine how a parent would feel at the possibility of losing a job, making things even more difficult.

So the next time you feel like your parents don’t seem to have time for you anymore or love their jobs more than they love you, give them the benefit of the doubt. This is not to invalidate your feelings of wanting to spend more time with your parents, but they could be working hard to keep their jobs or just exhausted from a 15-hour day of hustling. Try to have greater empathy and be open to the possibility that they are doing the best they can under current circumstances.

Give them a glass of cold water when they come home, help prepare meals, wash the dishes, and other chores at home so they can have time to rest and recuperate. Pray for them to have strength for the next day’s work. Expressing your thanks verbally can go a long way, too.

It is also important to recognize that not all of us have parents who work hard for their children. In this case, you can turn to Heavenly Father and rely on His help to direct and guide you through life. Know that in His own ways, He is putting in the work to ensure that your life will be blessed, maybe not with parents worthy of emulation, but with Heavenly Parents who love and care for you beyond comprehension.

Forgiving us seventy times seven. During a day at my sister’s house with her 3 toddlers, I started counting how many times one of them said the words “I’m sorry, mommy.” Long before noon, I had already lost count. Spilled milk, a broken glass, dirty clothes, a messy floor, and fighting over a toy were several reasons my nieces and nephew apologized to my sister.

As we grow older, we make mistakes far greater than spilled milk. And yes, it might require even more than saying “I’m sorry.” Looking back at the mistakes we’ve made in the past, we’ll likely find that they have forgiven us more times than we can count. They have extended compassion and love in their own ways, maybe not in the ways we wanted, but in the best way they know how to let us know that we had been forgiven.

Often we don’t often feel enough gratitude for our parents when they forgive us because it is so common, we don’t even give it much thought. But if we take time to think about how our mistake made them feel, we can understand how much their forgiveness means.

So the next time you think of breaking a house rule, do something beyond reason, or say something out of anger, pause and ask yourself, “Is this something worth hurting their feelings for?”

There are so many other things that our parents are doing that we might not give much thought. But if we take a step back and observe even the little things they do for us and how much effort these things require, we’ll realize that parenting is hard.

My sister once said, “I never really understood how much effort our parents put into raising righteous children until I was raising mine.”

We might not fully understand until we walk in similar shoes but understanding our parents with empathy will help us appreciate their daily efforts more.

The post 2 Things Parents Do Not Receive Due Credit For appeared first on morefaith.ph.

“When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” Can gratitude help millennials overcome blues?

I’ve sung this song so many times already that I’ve lost count. This pure, uplifting song teaches a very important lesson: gratitude can heal a disheartened soul. When I was younger, I truly wondered “Really? Can gratitude and being thankful in all things help me overcome my challenges?” I honestly could not understand it then. It all became meaningful to me when I grew up and became what the world calls a “millennial.”

Living in today’s world is both exciting and challenging. It is exciting because it seems as though the opportunities for success are limitless. With the recent improvements in technology, a fast paced world, and information right at our fingertips, it feels like there’s nothing you can’t do. Success seems to be just around the corner.

However, there is another side of the equation. The Huffington Post released an article entitled “ Why Generation Y Yuppies are Unhappy” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wait-but-why/generation-y-unhappy_b_3930620.html) which explained why the millennials of today are dissatisfied and depressed.  The Philippine Daily Inquirer also produced an article that states that job dissatisfaction is high among millennials. (http://business.inquirer.net/206376/job-dissatisfaction-high-among-millennials)

Well, these two facts don’t seem to add up. How can a person living in such a great, promising time, still feel empty?

Despite personal achievements, how many of us still browse through our phones looking at the seemingly unattainable successes of our friends and feeling awful that we just can’t have that? How many of us can say that we do not yearn for the latest phone and gadget when everyone around us seems to have it all? How many of us look at our life as something inferior compared to those glamorous lives we see in social media?

I am a millennial, too, and this scenario strikes a chord. But thanks to the song I’ve been singing since I was young, I was able to snap out of my sad bubble, take a deep breath, and try once more to look at the wonderful things in my life with new eyes: eyes of gratitude. So I asked some of my millennial friends, as well, how gratitude helps them rise above the blues and here are some of their insightful answers:

1. “Gratitude helps me see things in a different perspective.”

Carla, a 23 year-old bookkeeper says that being grateful for the things in her life made her see things positively. She said “I always tend to look at life in a material way. When I discovered that I was basing my confidence on things that I have, and eventually felt miserable because I can’t have it all, that’s when I knew I had to change my ways. I tended to spend my savings to buy stuff that would validate me as better than the rest. But right now, being grateful made me exercise more self-discipline. I now know what I truly need and being grateful helps me eliminate unnecessary wants.”

1. “Gratitude makes me realize that I am also blessed.”

Lily, a young wife and work-at-home mom felt like she had been deprived of self-improvement because of her decision to raise her child full time. “However, through it all, whenever I look at my child, a sense of gratitude fills my heart. Yes, I might be missing the chance to earn advanced degrees, but I am entrusted with this privilege of raising a wonderful daughter. Being grateful for simple blessings helps me feel that like my other friends, I can also use the hashtag #feelingblessed.”

1. “Gratitude actually makes me appreciate my seemingly more successful friends.”

“It’s true that comparisons are indeed the root of all unhappiness,” says Charlie, a call-center agent. “But you always have the choice to be thankful for what you have become. And by being thankful, you appreciate your friends who are successful in their own way. They now inspire me to work hard and be better than who I am now.”

1. “Gratitude helps me overcome the need to compare.”

Daryl always felt that his dissatisfaction rooted from his constant need to compare his life to others. “It made me feel really dissatisfied with my life whenever I compared because I always saw my friends going on vacations, friends getting married, friends who seemed to figure it out. It made me feel less blessed. But when I count my blessings, my need to compare diminishes. I come to realize that we are given different blessings, and appreciation for these things can bring happiness and satisfaction.”

1. “Gratitude reminds me what success truly means.”

To the world, success can have a different meaning. “Social media has defined success in such a different way now. To others, success can mean having expensive stuff, going places, or achieving back-to-back degrees. That indirect representation of success can sometimes discourage a young person like me. But if you exercise gratitude, you will see that success isn’t limited to those things. In fact, success can also come through good deeds, through touching another person’s life, through helping other people. The world may see my efforts as insignificant, but looking outward is one of the successes that truly gives me lasting joy,” an HR officer, Joy, gave her answer with a big smiley emoticon.

Hearing these answers from my young friends adds up to my testimony that indeed, counting our blessings and expressing gratitude for the simple things in our lives can help us overcome the sadness, depression, and the dissatisfaction so rampant in this modern world.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf so perfectly put into words this truth:

“Never stop striving for the best that is within you. Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don’t close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day’s ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life.

The happiest people I know are not those who find their golden ticket; they are those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy.” (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/forget-me-not?lang=eng)

May we always appreciate the small but bountiful blessings that come into our lives. Happiness can be ours as we strive to look at life with eyes of gratitude.

The post How Gratitude Helps Millennials Rise Above the Blues appeared first on morefaith.ph.