Habits
Our character, basically, is a composite of our habits. “ Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character and reap a destiny.” Habits are powerful factors in our lives. They are consistent and constantly, daily, express our character and produce our effectiveness or ineffectiveness.
Habits can be learnt or unlearnt. This involves a certain process and a tremendous commitment.
A habit is the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire. Knowledge is the theoretical aspect, the ‘what to do’ and the why. Skill is the how to do. Desire is the motivation, the want to do. To form a habit we need to have all three; but most of all we must have the desire in a fairly strong measure. The important question is, therefore, how to get children to form good habits; and that too habits based on abstract qualities? The answer could possibly be in giving the children some activity that might give them the experience of that quality. For example let us take the quality Compassion, which according to Amma, is love in action. If we expose the children to human misery and suffering by taking them on a visit to a government hospital, an orphanage, a leper colony, or a school for handicapped children, it is possible that some of the children may be deeply moved and the visit may have a lasting impression on them. Parents, Mentors, Teachers should use their imagination and ingenuity to organize such activities, which could give the children an experience of the abstract quality we wish them to inculcate.
Jai Ho...
