The Gift of Gratitude for Teens with Meredith Rivkin

“It really shifts your thinking to things you wouldn’t give a second thought to,” says today’s guest Meredith Rivkin about the power of practicing gratitude. A junior in high school, Meredith serves as the president of the teen board at Gratitude Generation—g2—a nonprofit organization on a mission to instill gratitude in future generations through education and service. Meredith joins Why Didn’t They Tell Us to talk with host Leslie Randolph about what volunteering with the organization from such a young age has taught her about gratitude—as both an act and a feeling - and how giving back can instill confidence in teenagers living in an increasingly high-pressure world. 

 

Meredith discusses how she’s learned to communicate effectively with peers and adults alike, to market herself and to successfully run and execute an event. She’ll explain how gratitude affects teens’ mental health and what it means to GLOW. 

 

Gratitude offers teens what they want more than anything else: to feel seen and to feel like they matter. Join today’s episode to learn more about how to practice gratitude in your everyday life. 

 

Quotes

• “I didn’t really realize it then but my mom and the other moms were really creating something that would become so significant and now as I’ve grown up with the Gratitude Generation, I realize how important it is.” (5:09 | Meredith Rivkin)
• “Gratitude Generation really taught me to be grateful for the small things and what I already had, not just what I continued to get.” (6:48 | Meredith Rivkin)
• “As a teen it definitely improves your mental health and you just feel like the things that seem so big in your life aren’t that big anymore. Also, one of the G2 coined terms is the GLOW—it stands for Gratitude Lights Our World and I really think that’s what demonstrates the feeling and the act of gratitude. You really get the GLOW when you’re done doing a service project or you really just feel grateful for everything that you have.” (15:08 | Meredith Rivkin)
• “I think the act itself is about giving your time and giving your energy to do something for yourself that will make you feel good but also for somebody else in the community. So, I think it really makes you selfless and it really creates that feeling of gratitude for what you have and what you can do to help others. And then when you feel that gratitude, you’re more likely to help others in the future. It’s healthy for you, it’s healthy for your family, your relationships, and literally everybody around you. Especially when there’s so much negativity and down energy in the world, the feeling of gratitude helps compensate for the other heavy emotions that teenagers and adults have every day.” (21:23 | Meredith Rivkin)

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