by Lisa Kates

Created on: March 20, 2009   Last Updated: February 08, 2011

Being compassionate should be a characteristic fundamental too us all. Developing compassion as a way of life begins at home by adults demonstrating to their children what that means. Adults can easily inform themselves about larger world issues but they need to be mindful of the smaller world that absorbs them every day. 

If we show our children that they should be sensitive and caring within their own families they will carry compass to school and beyond. Considering other peoples' feelings and acknowledging their difficulties is what compassion is all about. Developing that as a way of life begins by listening to the challenges facing all of us. 

Developing compassion begins at home and spreads outwards from there. Informing ourselves about what is happening in our cities ,our country and the world around us develops a sense of compassion through knowledge. Connecting to other people enhances our feelings of compassion because we are choosing not to ignore adversity.

If there are people going hungry in your communities take food to the food bank or volunteer to cook at homeless shelters. If your children are old enough take them along to help out.  Make your children aware of life outside their bubble and they will see that not everyone is as fortunate as they are.

Even though children are often afraid of those who have disabilities it is because they don't understand blindness, deafness or mentally challenged people. Inform them and educate them about those who are different than they are and show them that everyone, regardless of disabilities or afflictions have many good things to offer. Go on line and find artists who had the misfortune of ill-health, musicians who had disabilities and many other people who regardless of their physical or psychological disabilities contributed great things to society. When your children see that all sorts of people do wonderful compelling things this will allow them to be open-minded about seeing people who they feel are different than they are. Compassion and appreciation for all people will naturally follow this understanding. Often ignorance is a precursor to a lack of compassion .

Take the time to read a daily newspaper, either a hard copy or on-line.Share some of the topics with your family and encourage discussion.War, famine,poverty and natural disasters are a very real part of the world we live in.

When we see men and women going off to war and leaving their families behind we are compassionate about that. We know how hard it is for mothers and fathers to leave their children and spouses behind. Share these feelings with your children so that they will know what is happening to other families around the country. Spark interest in how others live and show compassion to families or individuals who are living challenging lives.

Compassion begins at home. If a theme in our homes revolves around listening to others, paying attention to feelings and respecting each others foibles and strengths then we can all develop compassion as a way of life.

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