What is it that compels adults to “do the right thing”, or “go out of their way”, or “go above and beyond”?
There are those people that are outstanding in their jobs or in their interpersonal relationships with friends, family, and even strangers.
This is that interconnectedness, or sense of community that some of us feel towards our fellow human. We respect our fellow man and respect the plight that they are on.
Social sciences are looking at how spirituality effects our health. Spirituality does not automatically mean religion. Spirituality is the way you find meaning, hope, comfort and inner peace in your life. Many people find spirituality through religion. Some find it through music, art or a connection with nature. Others find it in their values and principles. And some adults I know still find it with their parents.
As humans, we have 4 different parts to us that need nurturing and development. We have our physical, intellectual, emotional, and social/spiritual parts. When we see an amazing athlete who is also well-spoken and intelligent; who is a caring well-adjusted person, we tend to appreciate the wholeness of the person. For some athletes, they spend too much time developing the physical part and can neglect the rest (which is why we had/have “no pass, no play rule” in schools).
As parents, we have a responsibility to nurture the whole of our children. We know that we need to read to them, help them get the exercise they need, and emotion coach, teach them to be nice to their playdate but sometimes we neglect the spiritual side.
There are ways to help develop your child’s spiritual side:
- We can donate time to a local non-profit.
- We can organize a park clean-up
- Lead by example (return a lost wallet, pick up trash, etc)
- Get involved in a neighborhood/community event
- Offer help to elderly neighbors, (without being financially compensated) such as, mow their lawn or bring them a meal.
- If we go to church/temple/synagogue, teach them the values of your religion.
What’s important to understand is that teaching our children doesn’t stop at the ABC’s.