Have you ever got to watch the classic movie “Pollyanna?” This was the biggest Disney blockbuster in 1960. It was such a big hit that the child actress who played Pollyanna, Hayley Mills won an Oscar for her performance. It was the Special Juvenile Academy Award, I highly recommend that you watch this classic movie with your children and read the book too, which was written by Eleanor Porter.

Pollyanna’s disposition in life is very contagious. She is most remembered as the child with a pure heart and a positive attitude. She speaks her mind and heart like any other young child but the big difference is her thoughts and words are always positive.

Parents take heed! If you want to make a mark in this world, make a positive mark on your children They have the capacity to do better than us, most especially if you mentor them well. Forget about the ugly past  and concentrate in making the future better. Think and talk like Pollyanna so that your children will absorb it. Her sentences are flavored with lots of gladness. It takes daily practice and drastic change in your  mind, heart and spirit but you’ll get the hang of it eventually.

Practice it in your own life and play The Glad Game with your children. This is one of the best legacies of Pollyanna. I love it although I have a different name for it. I call it “Thank You Therapy.” It’s therapy because most of us have gotten used to so much negativism that we need serious treatment. Young children easily absorb these negatives so much so that they also need remedies even at an early age.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine.” (Proverbs 17:22). This is good for your heart and what is good for your heart is good for your life. Life is too short to waste on whining.

I had several challenges last year and each tough time, I would always tell myself, “Thank God this doesn’t happen all the time…and nothing lasts for ever.” I recall positive promises from the Bible to encourage me. I was surprised that Pollyanna also drew a lot of references from the Bible because her father was a preacher.

It is important to teach children God-dependence because there will be times when you will not be available when they need you. This keeps them from being insecure and anxious when their parents are busy and hard to reach.

I taught a boy to play the Glad Game because he was always worried whenever his parents are not able to be with him. His mother is a doctor and his father a missionary. As you can see, both parents are busy serving others. He needed to depend on a higher source,  a practice that was more productive than producing tears at the sign of tension.

A person who learns to look at the good things and learn to be glad has less time to complain. I believe that gladness is a habit. To get kids started early, we try to profess gladness each day before classes begin and say also something nice to others. When you make others glad, it also makes you glad.

Part of their Thank You Therapy is to write something in their Thank You journal each day. It becomes a game because they are not supposed to repeat what they have thanked God for the previous days. This teaches them to think of other thankful thoughts and to pursue other avenues of positive perspectives. Gladness is fresh every morning. Sometimes we thank God for something similar but we express it in a different way.

Let me get you started. How do you thank God for your life today?

One six year old boy who just learned the circulatory system told me, “Teacher, today I woke up and felt my whole body working and cooperating. Thank God that they are obeyin’ and doin’ each function well. I touched my heart and it was pumping and my lungs were giving me air. Thank you Lord, I’m alive. I feeeeeel good!”

Another boy said, “Well, I’m glad my nostrils are open to take in air!” A younger child exclaimed, “Thank you Lord, I am well to play today!”

Play the Glad Game for 365 days and see what happens.