by Jill Jacks

Created on: March 22, 2009

To truly live a compassionate life a person must continuously strive towards being a better person. Society has evolved greatly in some areas and declined in others. Often what people view as compassion is what used to be called manners or good etiquette. An example of this would be holding the elevator for someone, holding the mall door for the people behind you,or giving up your seat on the bus or train to an elderly or handicapped person. These are gestures of goodwill and kindness.

This type of behavior is learned and should be taught to our children from the start. It is but a stepping stool in learning how to live a compassionate life. If we want our children to follow this lifestyle we must first teach them manners and kindness.

As children develop they automatically learn how others are affected by their behavior. If a child hits his/her sibling and is hit back the lesson is that it hurts to be hit. A child who is called names quickly learns about hurt feelings.

It is essential to have an understanding that what we do and say has an impact on others. From this we learn responsible behaviours. Manners which seem to have gone by the wayside are important to teach to your children as well. The best way to do this is leading by example.

As in all things we start with the basics to build solid groundwork to progress from. Progressing to compassionate living is to go beyond societal etiquette's, morals, and overall general decent behaviour.

It is taking ourselves out of everyday living and becoming involved in community or worldly issues and concerns. One likely won't have to move beyond their own community to find ways to help yet the compassionate life tends to extend beyond those borders. Those living truly compassionate lives have gone from glasses to binoculars to an airplane's aerial view. Their sights are set on the larger picture which extends well past themselves.

The two strongest time frames leading individuals to compassionate lifestyles are soon after starting a family and at or just past middle age. These time frames are strongly reflective periods in life.

New parents are in awe of their new addition to the family and fiercely protective. It is at this time the desire for a better world becomes more important. Parents want the best life for their children and for their children to be safe from harm and danger.

It is the utter amazement new parents have over what they've created and are responsible for which makes them want to become better people themselves

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