“What do you want me to be when I grow up, mum?” asked a little boy.
“I want you to be a good human being,” said the mother.
“Who is a good human being?” asked the child.
“The one who is selfless (meaning without ego), caring, loving and respectful,” said the mother.
We all live in a fast-paced society where life is mechanical. Earning more money than we already do matters the most and making it quick is even better. Being financially settled and securing top positions in top companies is the aim for most of us. We want our children to achieve more and more in everything they do and so it becomes a race, a race to be better than the best.
Sure enough, there’s nothing wrong in being the best, but at what cost?
The son asked a very innocent, yet important question to his mother. To which the mother gave a simple yet meaningful answer. She explains the importance of being a good human being to her child.
We all want our kids to become engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs and hold the best of degrees. Nothing wrong with wishing the best for them. But have we ever asked them to become good human beings first?
Sometimes, I think that we forget to draw the line between need and greed. It’s completely ok to tell our children to choose the best of professions. But it’s equally important to tell them to build a successful and inspiring personality. They should have a character that reflects humanity.
If you visit schools, how many children today will give you the real meaning of humanity? May be a handful. And it isn’t their fault. We as elders, teachers and parents need to teach them.
‘Humanity’ isn’t just another word in the dictionary, but the crux of our lives. We are all connected through humanity. What they call ‘life skills’ in schools today, I believe it doesn’t come through reading or learning moral books. It only comes through practice. Only a good human being can achieve heights and sustain there longer.
Today’s world lacks humanity in many places. Very little do we see people helping each other, be it on roads, at workplaces or elsewhere. We do not have time for anyone except ourselves. We have become more selfish than selfless. We feel superior to others and put our ego before anything and everything. We take pride in a false image that we create of ourselves before people.
Where is humanity? When was the last time we helped someone?
If we strive for a better tomorrow, then we need to start preparing for it today. Our kids are our tomorrow. They have their entire future before them. We, as parents are sowing seeds that our children will bore the fruits from the plant that grows. Don’t we want them to be greener and blessed?
It gives us so much happiness when someone praises our children for the goodness they do and manners we have instilled in them. We take immense pride for all the appreciation they receive. In the same way, let us prepare them for being good humans first.
We are dealing with tender lives. Whatever they become tomorrow will be based on the way we mould them today. We don’t want our children to be machined or heartless, instead, we want them to have a heart.
We cannot be good humans if we ignore the sufferings of others. So let us all teach our children to be great. And also teach them that greatness doesn’t just lie in being human but in being humane.