A Life Lesson

If You Could Teach Your Children Only One Lesson in Life, What Would it Be?

Let’s all put aside the fact that I have no children, have no desire to have children and well, really don’t like them all that much (with the exception of my fabulous niece and nephew of course) before I answer this. Flipping through my “What If” book, there are a plethora of questions I could have chosen to answer, none of which have to do with children. So why choose a question that doesn’t technically pertain to me or my life? I guess I figure all children grow up to be adults and there are certainly lots of lessons that many adults out there could learn. Maybe I was drawn to this question after talking to my mom last night about the values that I believe she instilled in me growing up, values I possess today. Maybe this question intrigues me because I believe that what we learn in our childhood environment shapes us as adults. Maybe I just wish there was a little more good in humanity as a whole.

So, back to the question. I always have an initial response to these questions but then as I think about them they become harder to answer. There are many important lessons that a child should be taught…love, respect, responsibility, kindness, esteem, courage, strength, independence….the list goes on. But if I were to teach a child one thing I would teach him/her compassion. Compassion is defined as the “sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it”. I think compassion goes even further than this. Having compassion requires the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes. It requires one to have respect for any human being based solely on the fact that they are human. It requires one to reserve all judgement. It requires the ability to accept and embrace differences. To have compassion one must have love in one’s heart. Having compassion can inspire action for change. It may educate. It may simply be a gift given to someone in need of love, respect and understanding. As someone who knows what it is like to perhaps be a little different than the general population, I know firsthand that compassion can be a very welcoming warm hug. It is something that everyone should consciously practice. Yes, I think the world could use a little more compassion.