A Role Model
When I was 6 or 7 years old and my sister leaped out from nowhere intercepted a football intended for me. - I was playing with the ‘older guys’ - . I was completely ashamed to be shown up by a girl. I then became so angry, that I walked up to my sister, looked her in her smiling and proud face, and punched her in the stomach. I really hurt her. I have never ever hit someone in anger since.
I felt guilty. Really guilty after my mother yelled at me and told me never to do that again. Then I saw how much pain she was in. I learned not to hit others because of the guilt.
Do we learn the same when others do something to us? Can we learn to do wholesome actions when some one has hurt us? Or do we need a role model? Do we need to see theory in action to learn new wholesome traits?
This point is discussed in His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Daniel Goleman’s book Destructive Emotions. They speak about a new program for teaching children about emotions called PATHS. If any one has not read this book yet, it is worth the read.
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