Friday, October 12, 2012

What You Need To Know To Raise Your Kid To Become A Caring And Altruistic Adult

By Paul G Saver


When considering what is most essential for our lives, many philosophers, people of religion, psychologists, deep thinkers and writers, talk about the supremacy of true love. Actually you would be hard pressed to put forward a human value that is superior.

True love is simply living for the sake of others or the practice of public mindedness. It's where you place the best interests of others before your own. In practice, it means the harmonization of individual and whole life purposes which is necessary for normal human development.

As a parent, how can you go about aiding your child to develop their heart and therefore their capacity to love?

From the moment of birth, the spiritual human heart begins to develop. This is not an automatic process. Just like a plant, the human heart needs to be cultivated.

The truth be told, there are three key ingredients that are vital for a human being to develop their capacity to love, as follows:

1. Love Experiences.

The moment a child is born they should be showered with love day and night by way of being touched, hugged, cuddled, played with, fed, cleaned, spoken to kindly, listened to and so on.

As the child matures so should they ways in which they are loved. For instance, in the parent teenager relationship, listening carefully to the thoughts of your teen becomes a vital expression of love.

One author has commented that every single human being needs at least one person who is crazy about them.

In the moment that a person receives love, the heart is open and the opportunity is there for them to be able to internally connect with another human being.

2. Moral Examples.

A cultivated heart is one that is moral. Growing up, your child should be able to observe and relate to exemplary moral individuals that can be viewed as role models. Such people could be a family member or friend, a patriot, a saint, visionary and so on.

In these examples, point out the altruistic or selfless traits of the individual and the benefit their actions have on the lives of others.

3. Sharing And Caring.

It's one thing to receive love, it's another to give love. It is therefore incumbent on you as a parent to find ways to get your child to go beyond themselves and have experiences of "living for the sake of others" or "living for the greater good" or "making a difference in the lives of others" or which ever way you want to put it.

A good beginning point is to get your child to share their stuff with their siblings or other kids. Get your child to observe what effect it has on the receiver plus to note their own positive feelings.

As your child gets older, get them involved in volunteering activities. Some suggestions include; raising money for charity, working bees, sponsoring a child in a developing country with their own pocket money, getting involved in local disaster relief activities or whatever acts of service they can think of.

Ideally the best environment for the growth of the spiritual heart is the family. It's been said that the family is the school of love.

By adhering to these three guidelines you can help your child avoid the trap of selfishness and become an adult that cares for others. In doing so, becoming a valued spouse, parent and leader.




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