Sy Miller and Jill Jackson were a husband and wife songwriting team. In 1955 they wrote the song "Let There Peace on Earth". It was written as an expression of their dream of peace for the world and how they believed each one of us could help create it.
"Let it begin with me......." If we are to teach our children how to be peaceful humans, we must begin by creating peace in ourselves and the environments we create for living and learning.
This is where it gets tricky! Each time we are hit with any type of stimuli - words, actions, sensory loads, events - we react. Often our initial reactions to a stimulus are not peaceful. We may become angry, emotional, resentful, jealous, or even violent. The children in our care are always watching the way we behave. They are very aware of our responses.
Being peaceful is a practice. Consider practicing awareness of the way you react to events that occur throughout your day. Notice your posture, breathing, and tone of voice. Are you always peaceful? We can choose to be less responsive. When we feel an unpleasant response coming on; we could pause. We could hold the reaction inside for a moment. We could ask ourselves is this how I want to be? Is this response peaceful? Is this reaction going to help or hurt the people I love?
Teaching peace is the way. So, "Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me".
With peace and gratitude,
Judy
