We live in a very competitive society that goes too fast and thinks less and less of others.
Where we have too many things on our minds and on our hands and it is difficult for us to recognize or value all the good things that happen to us.
We do not know how privileged we already are and it seems that we always live in continuous dissatisfaction.
We have stopped being able to enjoy the small details, the day to day, of the people we love.
It is increasingly difficult to find people who defend their values with determination and strongly believe that they are the basis of relationships.
Values are the rules of conduct and attitudes according to which we behave.
They allow you to make appropriate decisions and live in society.
They motivate people to act in one way or another because they are part of their belief system, determine their behavior and express their interests and feelings.
They define the thoughts of individuals and how they wish to live and share their experiences with those around them.
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Instilling values throughout the various stages of growth should be a priority teaching in the education of children.
Values are necessary for them to develop harmoniously and will help them establish healthy relationships and have good self-esteem.
Some learning that will allow them to correctly relate to their environment and understand the dynamics that are considered in it.
Values education will foster respect and understanding of diversity, the development of critical thinking, the acquisition of social and communication skills, such as empathy or cooperation.
In the same way that our children learn music, mathematics or languages, we should teach them, through example, to develop perseverance, friendship, kindness, humility or generosity.
Our children do not always listen to us, but they do observe us on a daily basis, so the way we relate to others, how we ask for things, thank or help, will be the way they will do it.
Undoubtedly, generosity is one of the best values we can teach them.
This is what drives us to give without expecting anything in return.
It is the quality of being kind and understanding with others, offering our time and help in a disinterested way.
It is one of the best virtues that a person can have and one of the pillars of emotional well-being.
Undoubtedly, the purpose of all families is for their children to be happy, and that happiness involves developing in them the habit of generosity.
We must teach them to be generous from a very young age and the more it is practiced on a daily basis, the better it will be integrated into the personality.
Being generous will allow our sons and daughters to fully appreciate and enjoy life, to understand and empathize with what is happening around them.
And it is one of the healthiest and most enriching emotions that exist.
It helps us to be able to appreciate what we have, get or are.
It allows us to live in greater harmony and satisfaction, and to connect with ourselves, energizes us and enhances us.
It enhances our illusion, our desire to improve and generates a lot of peace.
Practicing it improves our self-knowledge and self-esteem and makes us much more grateful and live with less stress.
In addition, it connects us with peace, love, trust and illusion.
And with abundance, positivity and inner joy.
How can we help our children develop the value of gratitude?
Becoming the best example they can have: helping others whenever we can and explaining all the positive aspects that being generous brings us.
Teaching them to be generous not only with material things, but also with our selfless help, our time, with words of encouragement and gestures of affection and understanding.
Helping them identify the needs of the people around them.
Encouraging them to help those who need it: at home, fulfilling assigned tasks;
at school, having a good attitude in class with their teachers and classmates or collaborating with a friend who shows difficulties in performing a task or carrying out the tasks of the class.
Helping them reflect on how they feel when someone selflessly helps them and offers them their love and time.
Also speaking to them about the importance of being grateful and appreciating the efforts that people who love us make for us.
Showing distaste for selfishness, congratulating them when they are generous with their siblings or friends, helping them identify and deal with the emotions they feel when sharing is difficult.
Aristotle said: "Of all the varieties of virtue, generosity is the most esteemed."
Let us teach children and adolescents to be generous, to give to others everything they can offer, not to expect a reward for disinterested help, thus collaborating in the construction of a better world.
*Sonia López is a teacher, psychopedagogue and educational disseminator.
She is the mother of two teenagers.
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