“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” ― Albert Einstein

Image Credit

In a world where kids and people in general are walking around with so many darn “issues”, you would think that we as humans would realise the absolutely dire need for more compassion, respect, and general acceptance in society - but sadly this does not seem to be the case.

People truly can be so very cruel to others, often not even taking into account the repercussions and level of damage that their flippantly delivered words may have on the recipient.

Image Credit

As far as adults go, to my mind, there is not much you can do to “change” somebody who is obviously indifferent or actively heartless. I think the only hope in that respect would be if that particular individual encountered an experience of being on the receiving end of cruelty, to a point that it made them open their eyes and question their own actions – but even that is a push.

However, children on the other hand are still learning, growing and navigating their way around what is or isn’t socially acceptable, what is fundamentally right and what is wrong, so there is PLENTY of opportunity for parents, friends, family members, teachers and other adult individuals to make a positive impact on the lives of all our “little people”.

Image Credit

I think some people are naturally more compassionate than others, but this does not mean that it is a trait that cannot be nurtured.

My eight year old son’s school has a zero tolerance policy towards bullying and is also very inclusive when it comes to accommodating special needs children and their facilitators as a part of the general class. Each class from what I can gather has at least one or two special needs kids in it which is fantastic as Jude entry level experience with school and mainstream society is one where acceptance and understanding of others is something that is actively encouraged and praised.

Although, I am not only strictly referring to compassion towards people with special needs, it is a very good starting block to developing it as an overall personality trait. Being taught to understand and make friends with children with special needs is an amazing way to get them to understand just how very different everyone is, but that nobody is any better than the next person.

To my mind, we are ALL special needs if you will… in the LITERAL sense. Yes, we ALL have special needs… an individual and completely unique personality make up which comes with its own list of “requirements” in order to have the best in the individual shine.

Image Credit

Compassion, Acceptance and Respect are three qualities that go hand in hand and all play pivotal roles in developing a foundation of character which is admirable.

Yes, this should be actively practiced and encouraged at school too, but the reality is that it all starts at home and what you are teaching your kids.

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” ― Dalai Lama XIV

This is not a one dimensional topic. It makes its appearance in all facets of life and needs to be taught to kids in all these areas too. It stems from the superficial stuff like possessions, right through to the deeper emotional side of things.

If I were to highlight one aspect that I would say should be focused on first and foremost, as I believe that if this was exercised a little more in today’s society it would in itself make a huge difference already – and that is, the fact that materialistic possessions are NOT how you determine whether a person is worthy of your respect or not.

Image Credit

Far too many kids (and adults) categorise others based on materialistic possession and/wealth and it is so fundamentally wrong! That is just SO ridiculously SHALLOW and is absolutely NOT the perspective that we should be allowing to develop in youngsters.

I do realise that in a materialistically driven world, this is no easy feat – but we CAN make an effort to balance it within their own sphere of existence – and so we should.

Over and above this, children should be taught compassion, acceptance and respect in ALL other areas of their lives.
When someone is down, you lift them up – you don’t kick them further.

When someone has less than you, you share – you don’t mock or belittle.

When everybody else is mocking or teasing, you don’t get involved, you do what you can to stop it.

Different is not wrong. Our uniqueness as individuals is something to be celebrated!

We are ALL equal and have our place and purpose in life.

I could go on and on, but in all honesty – the list would be endless as there is always some way shape or form that you can offer another person compassion, acceptance, respect and most importantly…

LOVE!

Image Credit

Header Image Credit

Until next time...

Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx

ENTHUSIASTIC about BLOGGING?

Got AWESOME content?
well, what are you waiting for?!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE STEEMIT BLOGGERS ON DISCORD