21-Day Blogging Marathon | Day 12: Three lessons you want your kids to learn from you

This seems like an interesting one to write about. Now I don’t know if I ever want to have kids, and it is not something I think about much. However, what seems interesting to me is the idea of teaching someone else some great values or lessons. Perhaps I will pass on these values to my own kids, perhaps I will mentor someone else's kids, perhaps I will become a school teacher and find means to teach them these lessons. The “why” and “what” are more important than the “how” I feel.

Here we go:

1.  Dream Big: It is important to have dreams in life. As I mentioned yesterday, I think we create our reality by making certain choices. The first step towards that reality and these choices is to have dreams, (or aims, or goals, whatever you may call them). I think that these dreams pave the way for us and they have a big influence on the choices that we make in our lives. They are like the North-Star, constantly guiding us on where to go next, considering we follow them. Our dreams give us the strength to stand back up in the moments when failure stares us in the face. It is much easier to rise from failure if I have something guiding me on where to go next. I say this because my dreams have guided me throughout my life, and continue to do so.

2.  Be Kind: It doesn’t matter where you are in life, it’s essential to be kind. Be kind to strangers, be kind to coworkers, to friends and family. Everyone has their own worries and anxieties to deal with, and you do not know what they are going through. It is unfair to take out your frustrations on someone else. More importantly, be kind to your own self. Often, we are benevolent to others because we are constantly taught that it is the right thing to do. However, we beat ourselves up for making mistakes. We tend to be our own critics at times, and frankly, no one benefits in this situation. If kindness is a value that you want to imbibe, why not practice on yourself first?

3. Suffering is Everywhere: This is one of the most important principles of Buddhism, and something that I have learnt the hard way. Suffering is present everywhere. Sometimes in obvious forms such as sickness, poverty, losing a loved one, etc. Now I wouldn’t want to share this sorrowful reality of the world with children. What I would want to share is how, in our daily lives, suffering manifests itself in small ways, and how, it is inevitable. According to Buddhism, anything that is unpleasant can be deemed as suffering. Not winning the first prize in a competition, someone you like not reciprocating your feelings, working hard in an exam and not scoring well, etc. The more important point, or lesson is that all of us have to deal with these guises of suffering. We need to be strong enough, learn from our mistakes, perhaps undergo some form of catharsis, and eventually, pick ourselves up.