Changing the world in 10 minutes a day....
The Dalai Lama apparently has said that he believes that "war and violence would become extinct in one generation if, beginning at age five, children were taught to meditate on compassion for an hour a week for the rest of their lives." (from Excuses Begone by Wayne Dyer) An hour a week is only ten minutes a day, with a day off!!
This can be 10 minutes spent reading a book about a need somewhere in the world, or loving your neighbor, or giving without expecting anything back. One of my favorite children's books is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, a book of unconditional love that a tree had for a little boy. These kinds of books don't take long to read but can become part of a child's world view if read often enough and talked about. What does it mean to give and expect nothing back? Questions like this make great dinner table discussions as opposed to the " 'What did you do in school today?'...'Nothing.' " conversation that is so prevalent. Meditation is focusing your thoughts on something. There are many ways we can help our children focus their thoughts. And as we help them focus their thoughts, our thoughts are focusing on the same things.
How cool would it be if every morning, our first conversation wrapped around "What can I do for someone else today?" We can have family projects that we plan for such as making get well cards and passing them out at a hospital. We can make a regular visit to the store to buy food for the food pantry in our neighborhood and deliver it as a family. We can collect school supplies all year with a small portion of our allowance and wrap gift packages for kids in the middle east or in Appalachia. We could use that same money each week to buy toothpaste and shaving cream or candies and compile goodie packs for soldiers to send at Christmas. We could sponsor a child in a foreign country, as a family, and write regular letters back and forth.
Teaching our kids to be thoughtful and generous and nonjudgmental will not only help them change the world as they get older, but will make them strong, compassionate human beings now...and the by product? Strong, compassionate parents and closely bonded families.
Not a bad deal for 10 minutes a day.
www.marianneclyde.com
This can be 10 minutes spent reading a book about a need somewhere in the world, or loving your neighbor, or giving without expecting anything back. One of my favorite children's books is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, a book of unconditional love that a tree had for a little boy. These kinds of books don't take long to read but can become part of a child's world view if read often enough and talked about. What does it mean to give and expect nothing back? Questions like this make great dinner table discussions as opposed to the " 'What did you do in school today?'...'Nothing.' " conversation that is so prevalent. Meditation is focusing your thoughts on something. There are many ways we can help our children focus their thoughts. And as we help them focus their thoughts, our thoughts are focusing on the same things.
How cool would it be if every morning, our first conversation wrapped around "What can I do for someone else today?" We can have family projects that we plan for such as making get well cards and passing them out at a hospital. We can make a regular visit to the store to buy food for the food pantry in our neighborhood and deliver it as a family. We can collect school supplies all year with a small portion of our allowance and wrap gift packages for kids in the middle east or in Appalachia. We could use that same money each week to buy toothpaste and shaving cream or candies and compile goodie packs for soldiers to send at Christmas. We could sponsor a child in a foreign country, as a family, and write regular letters back and forth.
Teaching our kids to be thoughtful and generous and nonjudgmental will not only help them change the world as they get older, but will make them strong, compassionate human beings now...and the by product? Strong, compassionate parents and closely bonded families.
Not a bad deal for 10 minutes a day.www.marianneclyde.com
Posted by marianne at 1/4/2010 5:17 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: The Giving Tree giving Dalai Lama sponsor a child Excuses Begone changing the world Wayne Dyer expect nothing
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: The Giving Tree giving Dalai Lama sponsor a child Excuses Begone changing the world Wayne Dyer expect nothing
I agree with your message that we should try to practice the Dalai Rama's belief you quoted here. Your suggestions showed me various ways to help children learn the spirit of compassion in a family or in a community. Starting from a family is a good idea...and maybe what I could do for my grandchild in the near future. Doing something for someone else must be a valuable experience for a child as well for a family. Investing some time in teaching a child to be compassionate
is worth doing.
Reply to this
I have had some conversations with my grandchildren recently about things they like to do, or have done, or want to do in the future. It is amazing what kids come up. Parents and grandparents have an important and influential role in helping to spark the ideas and expose kids to this kind of thinking. The unfortunate thing is that many (most?) kids are not exposed to this kind of thinking and empowered to think like this for themselves. But they can truly change the world once they know they can make a difference!
Every interaction along these lines helps!
Reply to this