Guest Post #2: Small Steps to Giant Leaps

Our second Guest Blogger is one of my dearest friends on this earth, Peggy, from Small Steps to Giant Leaps. PK and I actually met through my sister years and years ago, and we developed a bond that can probably only be understood by the two of us. Peggy exudes a sense of balance and peace that I can only dream of having, and I am so very very grateful to call her my friend. I'm so glad to introduce you to a little bit of her wisdom and insite, so without further adieu I proudly present Peggy and her post titled . . .  

May you always…

We are fortunate to see my older grandson, “JAK”, every week. On Sunday, we pick him up from his mom’s and then his dad (my son) picks him up at our house a few hours later. During those weekly visits, we have played “restaurant”, planted a garden, built all sorts of contraptions out of the boxes in the recycling bin, walked to the park to climb the monkey bars, and taken Barney (our dog) on numerous walks. Barney has always considered JAK his pal, since Barney was around when JAK was born. They have a special bond.

During one walk with Grandpa and Barney a few years ago, they came across some dandelions going to seed.

Now, everyone knows that those exist for the sole purpose of making wishes. You close your eyes, make a wish and blow. Seeds scatter and your wish goes with them, out to the universe, out to God. So JAK did just that.

Picked up a dandelion, closed his eyes, made a wish and blew.

Then he picked up another, told Grandpa to close his eyes and make a wish. They walked a little further, JAK stopped, picked up one more and told Grandpa he would make a wish for Barney. He thought for a moment, closed his eyes and blew. Grandpa then asked him what he had wished (really had to convince him it was okay to tell the wish). And although he was reluctant at first, JAK finally told Grandpa his wish for Barney.

May you always go for long walks and may you always have plenty to eat.

Grandpa’s heart melted on the spot. Mine melted when they returned home and I heard about the wish. But it made us realize just how very important it is to foster compassion in our little ones.

“Compassion is the desire that moves the individual self to widen the scope of its self-concern to embrace the whole of the universal self.” Arnold Toynbee

As video games grow in popularity, our kids are exposed to violence at an increasingly younger age. How many times have we been sick to stomachs when we hear of a 5 year old shooting the little brother when they found their parent’s gun? News reports show our world divided by intolerance to other cultures and religions. Teaching our kids compassion shows them how easy it is to be tolerant of others, no matter the differences.

Barney sees JAK as a “brother”. JAK sees Barney as one of the family. It’s as simple as that. Wouldn’t it be nice if it were that simple with the rest of the world?

- Peggy