Sunlight to a Plant Like Compassion in a Child

Be the Inspiration of Compassionate Actions to Energize Your Child

Plants need the energy from sunlight like a child needs the guiding light and direction to demonstrate compassionate action. Plants need light for photosynthesis which allows the plant to absorb energy through the chlorophyll in its leaves. It then converts this energy into food. A child needs a motivator and a good example to feed them and inspire them to perform compassionate acts.

Sunflower following the sun — aaron-burden-zpK28VGxkJw-unsplash

I love sunflowers, especially how their yellow heads follow the sunlight. Similarly, I love lighthouses, and how their light breaks the darkness and guides ships safely. They are both tall, stately, and beautiful visuals of how light is a guide, something we follow. Sunflowers follows the light, whereas the lighthouse produces the light that is followed.

Darkness and light have interesting effects. Have you noticed when things are not going well in life, they seem worse at night, in the darkness? Have you lived in area where it is rainy and cloudy, or maybe where springtime April showers or snowfalls never seem to end? I have. I get depressed, anxious, and restless. I start getting negative thoughts and feel discouraged about normal things. I’m not as patient and more intolerant.

I fall asleep in this darkness. Then morning comes. And especially if it’s a bright beautiful blue-sky, cloudless day, my spirit lifts! I have a whole new perspective on life! I’m a happy, energized person again.

In this discussion of light, I can’t get out of my head a popular children’s song called, “This Little Light of Mine.” Here is a portion of it:

This little light of mine
I’m going to let it shine
Oh, this little light of mine
I’m going to let it shine…
All the time,
Let it shine,
Let it shine.

I think humans need the energy of connection and sometimes that connection gets short-circuited. By connecting with others who need us, it energizes us, it gives us a spark of energy. We feel a sense of need and purpose. That spark ignites and starts glowing. We feel warm inside.

That little boost reminds me of Newtons Laws of Motion. His first law of motion includes that an object stays at rest until it is acted on. Like human nature, it is the natural tendency of objects to resist change. We need an incentive or a motivational factor. Maybe it’s looking at what the outcomes will be to drive us forward. Be an inspiration to a child and light their fire. Get them moving.

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Once that fire is fueled, it may take off like a wildfire. Newton’s second law states, the acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied to it. Once I start something I have a deep passion in doing, I don’t want to stop. A child experiencing giving, caring, sharing, and helping others hopefully will be overcome with compassion and want to keep on going. It’s deep rooted in their soul.

Be an example to your child, like the light house, the light to guide them. Help your child be a sunflower, taking the steps in following the light. Give them that little push to get them going. Once you get them going, they won’t stop. See the happiness on their faces as they become a compassionate human person and they themselves become the light, the sunshine to feed and inspire others.

This is the sixth in the series of DIG IN, Steps to Cultivate Compassion in Children. The others are: 1) Let’s Talk Dirt 2) Plant Perennial Seeds of Compassion That Grow Deep Roots 3) How to Water the Seed with Compassion — Sprinkle Them with Knowledge 4) Why Growing Seeds Need Fertilizing – Nourish Understanding Feeding Compassion 5) Why Seeds Need Air as a Child Needs Breathing Room – Exhale Compassion

Sonja Wendt

Enhancing children’s sensitivity in human interactions one story at a time.