This morning on Facebook I was reminded twice of how much our society and our children have become the land of 'instantaneous gratitude'. So many want everything now, given on demand and never having to wait for results by simply working for the things we 'think' that we need.
After reading back on my posts, it could be said that I am a person of 'instantaneous gratitude', but much of that is due to my age, already having lived out the days of my life that required much waiting. I had decades of learning to wait, and my childhood was about waiting for birthdays, Christmas, the end of bean and corn field walking season. I recall looking through the Sears catalogue when it arrived each fall and ear marking the pages to let my parents know what I wanted for Christmas, knowing that I would need to wait for that new game, doll or purse until the big day arrived to find it beneath the tree. And I knew that my first new camera would not be in my hands until I finished earning the money from being in the fields attacking the weeds between the bean plants.
Once into adulthood, even though I had been taught to wait for things, it was not easy, and there were things I had to go without having married at a young age someone who spent our money on the things he loved and not things we as a family needed. Life was hard at times. And so it was that I learned that if I wanted certain items for the home that I would need to get a job and earn the money myself for a new sofa and chair, a set of Corelle dishware, a wooden table and chairs that were just the right size for my two year old young child to sit and play at.
Instantaneous gratitude simply did not happen in those times.
My hope is that people will wake up and teach their children that YES... good things come to those who can learn to sit back patiently and wait while they learn the life lesson of working for what you need and what you want.
Goldie Hawn in the movie Overboard probably depicted instantaneous gratitude the best.
It was funny in the movie, but definitely not the best outcome to hope for when raising our children.
