{"id":1586,"date":"2020-09-21T08:34:12","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T08:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bahaijp.org\/daystar\/?p=1586"},"modified":"2021-05-30T01:32:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T01:32:34","slug":"283-gratitude-brings-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahaijp.org\/daystar\/283-gratitude-brings-joy\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"283 Gratitude brings Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"GratitudeRiaz came running into the house shouting. (It was Riaz\u2026of course he was shouting!)
\u201cDisneyland!! Disneyland!! Disneyland!!\u201d Asma, Mona, Shahla and Anisa came running to see what he was yelling about! \u201cThere is a Disneyland here!\u201d shouted Riaz, jumping up and down! \u201cDisneyland? Here in Okinawa?\u201d asked Shahla, getting all excited. \u201cHERE IN JAPAN!\u201d Riaz shouted. Mona and Asma looked at each other and shook their heads. \u201cRiaz! Disneyland is in Tokyo!\u201d Mona explained. \u201cI know! My friend went there with his family on summer break!\u201d Shahla and Anisa jumped up and down holding hands. \u201cYeah! Disneyland! Let\u2019s go!!!\u201d Asma shook his head again. \u201cDo you guys know where Tokyo is?\u201d \u201cIN JAPAN!\u201d Riaz shouted! \u201cHere in Japan!\u201d \u201cOh my Gosh! Riaz! Calm down!\u201d said Mona loudly, to get everyone\u2019s attention. \u201cIt\u2019s like a whole other country away! We are closer to Taiwan and \"SENKAKU-DIAOYUChina than TOKYO! Asma go get a map and show them!\u201d Asma ran to his room and found the map in his social studies book. \u201cOkay you guys\u2026where are we in Okinawa?\u201d asked Asma. The children found it on the map. \u201cNow\u2026where is Tokyo?\u201d They found Tokyo as well. \u201cWow! That\u2019s far!\u201d said Shahla.\"\" \u201cYeah, about 12 hours by boat to Kyushu, that first big island in Japan, then another maybe 12 hours to Tokyo! It\u2019s about 2,000 km!\u201d explained Mona. \u201cWell, we could always go by airplane!\u201d said Riaz! \u201cWay too expensive even for just one person\u2026. Think about the cost of getting the five of us plus Mom and Dad there,\u201d said Asma. \u201cWAH!!!\u201d little Anisa started crying and ran into the kitchen, where Mother was sitting and painting a picture. Anisa jumped into Mother\u2019s lap, almost getting a face full of paint. \u201cI wanna go to Disneyland!\u201d she \"\"cried. The other children followed Anisa into the kitchen. Asma explained to Mother what was going on. Then he turned to the other children and said, \u201cWe are never going to get to go to Disneyland, so stop thinking about it!\u201d \"\"Shahla stomped her feet and yelled, \u201cWhy do we have to be so far away from everything!\u201d
Mother looked at the sad (and angry) faces of her children and said, \u201cIf you spend your lives thinking about what you don\u2019t have, you will always be unhappy. But if instead you only think of \"\"things you are thankful for, you will always be happy.\u201d Mother smiled and continued. \u201cLet me tell you two stories about two different women; I want you to think about which one you think you want to be like.\u201d
The children all sat down around the table to hear Mother\u2019s stories\u2026 but none of them looked happy about it. Mother wiped the paint off her paintbrush and started the first story.\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cOnce upon a time there was a poor fisherman and his wife. One day when the man was fishing, he pulled out a beautiful Golden Fish. Surprisingly, the fish spoke to him saying, \u2018Please put me back and I will grant you a wish.\u2019 The man thought a minute and laughing, said, \u2018Something to eat for dinner, since we won\u2019t be eating you!\u2019 and he threw the fish back in the water. The man laughed all the way home thinking how silly it was that a fish could grant wishes. \u2018I probably imagined the whole thing,\u2019 he thought. When the fisherman arrived home, however, his wife ran to him saying, \u2018a complete cooked dinner was on our table when I came\"\" into the house! Who could have done it?\u2019 The \"\"fisherman was very surprised when he saw the dinner and told his wife all about the magic fish. His wife got angry and shouted at the fisherman, \u2018You stupid man! You could have asked for a nice big house, not just one little dinner! Go back and demand a big beautiful house from that fish!\u2019
\u201cThe man looked longingly at the delicious dinner, but his wife shooed him out the door. He went back to the place where he had found the fish and called out to it. The fish came up to the\"\" surface, and the man explained about his wife. The fish was not too pleased, but he agreed to the nice house. When the man returned, very tired and hungry to the house, his wife said. \u2018That\u2019s better, but it could have been a castle! Go back and insist on a castle!\u2019 The man said, \u2018I\u2019m tired and hungry let me eat and rest first. The woman was very angry, but she agreed. First thing the next morning he was kicked out of the house and sent to find the fish.\u201d \u201cWhat a mean lady!\u201d Anisa said, and all the children agreed.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mother continued, \u201cThe man went back and found the fish again and timidly asked for the castle. The fish was\"\" angry, but agreed, but when the man got home the woman was still angry and insisted on being queen, to fit nicely into the castle. The fish was getting very, very angry but agreed to make her queen. \u201cWhen the man got home\u2026you will never guess\u2026\u201d \u201cShe was still angry!\u201d the children all shouted!
\u201cYes!\u201d agreed Mother, \u201cand she asked to be made ruler of the world! The fish was so angry when he heard that, he said, \u2018That\u2019s it! She has nothing!\u2019 The fisherman went home to his poor old house with his angry wife\u2026and he just \"\"smiled! The \"\"End!\u201d The children all shouted at once, \u201cWhat a greedy woman!\u201d \u201cHow ungrateful!\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t like her!\u201d \u201cPoor fisherman: to have her for a wife!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mother said, \u201cNow I have one more story\u2026Once there was a poor woman who was walking home when \"\"she saw an old, cracked iron pot. \u2018Oh! that will make fine flowerpot for my garden! I am the luckiest \"\"woman in the world!\u2019 and she put her shawl around the pot and started dragging the heavy pot behind her. She was very tired and stopped to rest and saw that the pot was full of gold coins! \u2018GOLD COINS! I am the luckiest woman in the world!\u2019 and she started pulling her pot again. She stopped to rest and looked back at the pot and saw that it had changed into a big piece of silver. \u2018Oh, silver is \"Vectormuch better than gold, I can exchange it for money much easier, no one would have believed that I had come by the gold coins honestly. I am the luckiest woman in the world!\u2019 and she continued to pull the piece of silver. She stopped to rest and looked, and it had changed into a piece of iron! She said, \u2018Oh, I am the luckiest woman in the world, iron is much easier to change \"\"for coins.\u2019 She continued pulling until she stopped and saw that it had changed again. This time it had become a big stone. \u2018Oh! that would be perfect to hold my door open with! I am the luckiest woman in the world.\u2019 She was just at her door when she looked, and the stone changed before her eyes into a beautiful big horse. The horse looked at her, neighed, reared his front legs, then ran off over the hill\u2026never to be seen again.\"\"
Guess what the woman said!\u201d \u201cWhy did I keep stopping after it had become gold!\u201d Riaz suggested, and everyone laughed. \u201cShe said,\u201d Mother corrected, \u201c\u2018I am the luckiest woman in the world! I found a magic pot and have had a wonderful adventure!\u2019\u201d \u201cNow,\u201d \"\"asked Mother, \u201cwhat is the difference between these two women? They both started with nothing and ended up with \"\"nothing\u2026 but which do you think was happier, which would you prefer to be like?\u201d \u201cThe first woman was never satisfied, never grateful, so she was always unhappy,\u201d said Asma. \u201cAnd the second one was always grateful, and always happy!\u201d finished Shahla. \u201cI want to be like the woman with the pot!\u201d said Anisa, jumping up and down. \u201cWhat does this have to do with Disneyland?\u201d asked Riaz, frowning.
\"\"\u201cWell,\u201d explained Mother, \u201cLet\u2019s be like the second woman, and think of things to be grateful for. We live on beautiful Okinawa, what are some good things \"\"about that?\u201d The children thought a minute. \u201cIt never gets very cold, so we can play outside all year round!\u201d suggested Mona. \u201cYeah, and we can swim most of the year!\u201d put in Shahla. \u201cWe can go to a different park to play in every Sunday!\u201d little Anisa said excitedly. \u201cYes, there are lots of parks to play in here in Okinawa,\u201d agreed Mother. \u201cAnd the amusement park with all the rides!\u201d added Shahla. Riaz looked at the painting Mother had been working on. \u201cThe Aquarium! That\u2019s a painting of me when I got to give instructions to the dolphin!\u201d Riaz said, smiling. Mona looked at some of Mother\u2019s other \"\"paintings on the walls. \u201cRyukkyu Village! We get to go there to see how all the olden Okinawans lived in the olden days!\u201d \u201cSnorkeling and seeing all the beautiful fish!\u201d suggested Riaz. \u201cLearning how to row in the canoe races!\u201d said Asma. The children had many more fun and wonderful things to say about why they were grateful for living in Okinawa. They had forgotten all about Disneyland! Father was standing at the door listening to all this; no one had even noticed him. \u201cSo, remember children,\u201d he finally said, and everyone was surprised to see him. \u201cWhenever you are sad about something you don\u2019t have, just think of all the things you do have, and be grateful. \u2018Gratitude \"\"turns what we have into enough!\u2019 Do you know Aesop\u2019s Fables? That is from one of them.\u201d \u201cDad, can we go \"\"snorkeling tomorrow?\u201d asked Riaz. All the children looked expectantly at Father. Father smiled and said, \u201cI would love that! Let\u2019s do it!\u201d And all the children cheered! \u201cYeah Okinawa!\u201d they all shouted!<\/p>\n

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  1. \"Gratitude At the beginning of the story, why was Riaz so happy?__________________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Where do the children live?
    ___________________________________________________________________________<\/li>\n
  3. Is Okinawa near Tokyo?
    ___________________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. In the first story, what magic creature was granting wishes to the fisherman?___________________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Which wish, when granted, made the fisherman\u2019s wife grateful?___________________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. In the second story, what did the woman find?
    ___________________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. What did the pot turn into first?
    ____________________________________________________________________________<\/li>\n
  8. Was the woman grateful at the beginning of the story? Was she happy at the end of the story? Why?_______________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. What did the children think of about Okinawa that made them grateful?
    ___________________________________________________________________________<\/li>\n
  10. What should you do if you are not happy about what you can\u2019t have?
    ____________________________________________________________________________<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    How did you do?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Answers are on the Parent\u2019s Page!\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

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    Virtues Game<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    (Can be played online with distant friends or family)<\/h6>\n

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