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The phrase resonated with me. I knew I wanted to pass it along as a lesson for building kids of character.

Behind this phrase is a significant character theme, gratitude. All too often, it seems, we can look at what's on our life plate and focus on our problems, worries, fears, doubts, uncertainties, concerns.

You name it.

When our eyes drink from a life cup that constantly is viewed as half-empty, we easily become blind to the good that is all around us and that is happening to us.

Kids and teens need their daily gratitude reminder to neutralize the weighty albatross of fixating attention on their problems. Yes, daily, we need to grab on to gratitude, remembering that today, I am too blessed to be stressed.

What comes next is the important character step in gratitude growth - taking inventory of two or three reasons why gratitude is in charge of your life today:

I am too blessed to be stressed because:

I have a mind that is capable of handling today's problems.

I have a family that loves me.

I have an adult mentor friend who likes to talk with me.

I have a special project that interests me.

I have a job (or) I am going to get a job.

I have a quiet dream growing about my future that I will pursue.

I have.

Practicing daily gratitude until it becomes a mental habit is powerful mental medicine for character development. Gratitude pushes fear and anxiety to the sidelines and replaces these trouble-producing thoughts with self-confidence and trust that your life problems will not bully you.

Too blessed to be stressed? As a growing kid of character, you discover that only you can decide to peek through gratitude's clear window to see the sunshine that is always present in your life.when you search for it with an alert mind.

Russell Williams is president of Passkeys Foundation~Jefferson Center for Character Education. For information contact (949) 770-7602 or www.jeffersoncenter.org.