Our Animal friends
“Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals, cannot be a good man”
Wow! what a wonderful quote. I am sure, all ardent animal lovers will agree with me. Animals lovers are the best people to be around because no one else understands care and compassion better than them. Don’t we just love to be with our pet friends after returning from school or work? The relation that you develop with an animal is lifelong and firm. Animals respond back with all their love and affection and will always protect us. Adopting or taking a pet requires a lot of patience and love. It takes some time to build a trusting relationship but once this bond is formed, nothing can stop or change this friendship which only deepens with time. If there is one thing animals teach us is unconditional, selfless love. They comfort us and wait for us for hours when we are gone for some time.
Whether the animal is a dog or cat or guinea pig, caring for them has a magical impact. Children should be encouraged to be kind and compassionate towards animals. Kids naturally are attracted to animals. They have a desire to care for them. This not only benefits the animals but also builds character and helps our children develop into empathetic human beings. So let us make a promise to always be kind and compassionate to our animal friends. Let us understand them.
“Lots of people talk to animals, not very many listen though, that is the problem.
What is social wellness? It is about nurturing ourselves, others and our relationships. Social wellness consists of not only balancing our own physical, mental, and emotional health, but also actively participating as an interdependent piece of the bigger puzzle. As facilitators we are not only responsible to care for our personal connections, we also care about the greater good of society, including our communities and the environment. A larger part of them are our pupils.
We may openly communicate the needs, feelings, and thoughts of the learners to trust us and actively listen with empathy when they share with us. It involves engaging in and enjoying positive interactions with them while learning to make it leisure. Building and maintaining meaningful friendships and connections for them to propagate it further in their other spheres of life.
To cultivate social wellness the following habits are inevitable. We as facilitators must practice it before we preach.
*We should practice self care.
*We should introspect and get to know ourselves, knowing who you are, who you want to be helps —identify your needs, preferences and values and communicate them to the people around you.
*We should take responsibility for both the good and the bad and not push the blame on others.
*We should maintain friendships with individuals who respect, love, and accept us for who we are.
*We should appreciate ourselves and others.
“Lead by example. Practice what you preach or don't preach at all. Walk the talk. Learners watch what you do more than they listen to what you say. Inspire, challenge, and encourage them to do their best by doing YOUR best!” ---- Unknown
The pandemic has given us enough reason to create an environment where every individual (teachers, pupils, parents) contributed in their own way. They kept a message that one must cherish - mutual relationships, empathy, belonging, hard work, kindness, respect and taking care of health, a healthy lifestyle, and nutrition.
Online learning had the greatest impact on the quality of the learning experience and students’ mental as well as physical health. A physically active lifestyle is the need of the hour. We as facilitators must imbibe in the learners the importance of physical activities along with a healthy diet to have sustainable growth both mentally and physically. It is our responsibility as social beings to contribute to sustained social wellness. We must inculcate the habit of a healthy lifestyle which includes taking care of one's health by indulging in physical activities, mental awareness, and a well-nourished diet.
Finally, I would like to conclude that the purpose of this mutual collaboration and helping one another is to encourage social wellness and a healthy way of life because social wellness is more vitally important to our overall health.
Healthy Mind. Healthy Body. Healthy Life.
I feel a lot can be changed in our lives positively if we acknowledge the work and sacrifices of others. But in this fast-moving world that we are part of, the good deeds of others go often unnoticed. We are so busy chasing what we want to achieve and racing from one time of our lives into another that we hardly remember to pause and express our feelings for others around us. We can compare this behaviour to the blinders that race-horses wear. They inhibit horses from looking anywhere else but forward and only focus on the path that they tread on. Although race-horses wear this by force, we, unfortunately, wear this by choice.
Some of our students do display this tendency. Some of our alumni return after a long time just to meet the teachers who taught them and show their gratitude with this simple gesture. . But this number is few. For this generation that is blessed with technology and advanced communication that connects people across the world, it should be easier for students to keep in touch with their mentors. But, this is not so.
It's sad to see that students do not seem to use technology to connect with their school, their teachers, and many others who mattered to them at some point in their lives. The children of today, as in all ages, have been absolute wonders, each gifted with marvelous talents, a hard-working nature and it is no less than a pleasure to be a contributing factor to their growth.
But, as I mentioned earlier, Is it the rigorous work culture nowadays that is making them forget about the people in their past? Or just a lack of gratitude? Or is it this so-called “generation gap”?
Or perhaps, it is simply how they have been brought up. A rather extreme rendition of the phrase “don’t look back at your past”, even if it is merely to take a glimpse at the people who have helped them, or to realize the sacrifices others have made for their growth.
I wonder if parents nowadays encourage their children to thank their teachers. “They will pass. You will see a lot of teachers in the future”. That is true, teachers are hundreds, but the teaching is one. Once you have learnt something from someone, no matter who they are, you wouldn’t have to learn it again! And I feel if someone makes such an impact on you that the things you have learnt from them are something that you can carry on for a lifetime, they should not just be thanked, but enshrined. Maybe these lessons you learn from teachers go unnoticed, but they do exist. Students need to realize this and remember someone who spends their lives wishing for their success- their Teachers.
The thought of feeling grateful even if not conveyed should exist in the mind. This thank-you is different from what celebrities do on the stage whenever they win an award. It is not a formality, but a deep feeling.
It is as simple as looking back to a time, to people like one’s teachers, and expressing this deep feeling of gratitude. I feel a student-teacher bond is for a lifetime and both need to cherish and nurture it forever. Teachers look forward to hearing from their students, their life journeys, their achievements, and their growth. These moments are precious in the lives of a teacher and I wish all our students to value this aspect and this beautiful teacher-student relationship.
I am proud that I am part of the organization which respects and inculcates this value in the students and every member of its family. It is not only a daily practice to share a good thing or an affirmation but it is our culture.
Leave a reply