1000Speak – I Am Raising a Compassionate Child

June 27, 2015 Off By Lisa

I’m not sure how it happened.

Somehow, though, I find myself the parent of a child with a compassionate heart.

20150214_024309[1]

This little girl cares about the environment. She cares about people and animals. She wonders why and how people can be cruel to one another, whether it’s on a school playground or the world stage. It is unfathomable to her that anyone would abuse or abandon a pet.

This little girl cries when we pass the homeless man who wanders the streets on our route home from school. She drains her piggy bank to send money to places that will help him and others like him. She spends her money on gifts that will make the people around her happy. She asks for donations to a local shelter instead of birthday gifts for herself.

20150627_130800[1]

When she says her prayers at night, this little girl asks God to help heal the hurts she sees in the world around her. She has asked to spend her time doing volunteer work this summer.

There are many things she does not understand and, in a perfect world, she would never need to. But the world is not a perfect place. That’s not negativity; that’s reality. And when those imperfections meet her awareness and she asks, I have to comfort, to explain, and to teach.

In the end, it is she who teaches me. She is the one who makes me examine my own conscience and check my own behavior. She makes me think about whether the things I say or do or think are ones I would want her to emulate.

I often think she is far wiser and far more compassionate that I am.

And yet somehow, against all odds, I am raising a compassionate child.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

11407036_10205235905951374_6060988822294148133_nThis month, 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion continues to work toward a better world with a particular focus on the topic of COMPASSION.

Write a post relevant to this month’s focus – COMPASSION – and add it to the link-up right here by clicking the blue button below.

Here’s how to get involved:

Join 1000 Voices Speak for Compassion on Facebook

Visit the 1000Speak blog

Follow @1000Speak on Twitter

Use the #1000Speak hashtag across social media.

CategoryLife
Tags#1000Speak compassion kids learning life love parenting thoughts wisdom

About The Author

Lisa A. Listwa is a self-employed writer with experience in education, publishing, and the martial arts. Believing there was more to life than punching someone else’s time clock and inspired by the words of Henry David Thoreau, she traded her life as a high school educator for a life as a writer and hasn’t looked back. She is mother to one glorious handful of a daughter, wife to the nicest guy on the planet, and reluctant but devoted owner of three Rotten Cats. You can find her adventures and thoughts on living life deliberately here on the blog.

12 Comments

Comments are closed.