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当我难以理解这个世界时，我常常想起，我真正需要学习的一切都可以从孩子身上学到。我可以从他们看待世界的好奇心中学习，从他们全然活在当下的能力中学习，从他们自由欢笑和哭泣的方式中学习，从他们无条件的爱、信任和信念中学习。
我常常思考，为什么我们会失去那些孩提时代习以为常、视为理所当然的品质，以及这些品质是如何、何时消失的。我对贪婪及其反面——慈善——的理解，大多来自我生命中的孩子们。在阿坎克莎（Akanksha）成立初期，我记得曾在一家俱乐部为孩子们举办过一次派对。游戏、气球、薯片和冰淇淋，让孩子们兴奋不已。
我记得当时注意到，我们五岁的孩子帕苏拉姆就那么拿着冰淇淋站着，我问他为什么，他说想带回家和妹妹一起吃。我告诉他冰淇淋会化掉，他说没关系，他真的很想和妹妹一起吃。
我女儿萨马拉八岁那年，正准备参加学校运动会的三人两足赛跑。她兴奋地跑回家告诉我，她的搭档是她最好的朋友帕尔塔维。帕尔塔维和萨马拉已经是四年的好朋友了。我当时的反应是问萨马拉，找个身高更接近的搭档是不是更合适。我说，如果你们俩身高差这么大，很难赢。我记得女儿的脸色变了，她看着我说：“妈妈，什么更重要？赢比赛，还是让我的好朋友失望？”
今年年初，我遇到了拉古。拉古小时候患上了小儿麻痹症，双腿瘫痪。他告诉我，15岁那年，他生活在一个贫困的农村家庭，他告诉父母他不想成为他们的负担，要离家出走。拉古身无分文地上了火车，最终在一家锡克教寺庙做义工，后来辗转来到艾哈迈达巴德。如今，他在那里负责一家非政府组织的重要工作，该组织致力于帮助农村妇女和发展手工艺。我问他：“你从哪里获得如此强大的力量？15岁就拥有这样的力量？”和拉古在一起，你会感到平静祥和。他回答说：“力量就在我们内心深处。我们只需要知道它的存在，并去寻找它。”
我思考着帕苏拉姆、萨马拉和拉古为何选择付出而非索取。为什么一个五岁的孩子想要分享他的冰淇淋，为什么一个八岁的孩子选择友谊而非胜利，为什么一个十五岁的孩子选择自食其力，以免成为贫困家庭的负担。他们三个似乎都明白什么才是最重要的。他们三个似乎都明白，为他人付出能带来平静和快乐。他们三个让我更深刻地体会到，我们拥有超越自我、无限思考的能力。
而超越自我的思考会产生如此深远的影响。我记得在一个炎热干燥的孟买午后，我停下来和街上的一个小女孩聊天。她想要钱，我说不给，她就指着街对面的椰子摊贩。我记得她花了整整五分钟挑选她能找到的最大的椰子，然后我们坐在街边，各自拿着椰子，她和我聊着六岁孩子才会聊的话题。我们坐在那里的时候，街对面一个男人看着我们，然后穿过马路，从包里掏出一个苹果，递给了小女孩。感觉他一直想这么做，但又犹豫不决。他只是需要先看到别人这么做。
四年前，在艾哈迈达巴德的河畔学校，一个名为“设计改变世界”的小项目诞生了。其理念是让孩子们有机会改变他们不满意的世界现状。如今，来自38个国家的孩子们正在设计和实施各种变革项目。从反对童婚到与学校协商减轻书包重量，两千万儿童的思维超越了自身。
上周，在智利，我偶然走进一所贫困儿童学校，看到孩子们正在讨论他们刚刚完成的一个项目：他们在社区里组建了一支乐队，吸引人们到他们收容的待领养流浪小狗那里来。我惊讶地发现，这种渴望改变的愿望竟然在世界的另一端蔓延到了孩子们身上。而我只是碰巧走进了这个班级。
五百名“为印度而教”项目的成员遍布这些学校，他们孜孜不倦地努力，帮助孩子们走上不同的人生道路。我越来越清楚地看到他们的影响力正在不断扩大。家长们开始转变观念。学校里的其他老师也在为教育构想新的蓝图。社会也开始意识到，教师职业本身就是一种激励人心的事业。在为期两年的“为印度而教”项目结束后，越来越多的校友正在各个领域投身于消除教育不平等的事业。
我们拥有无限的奉献能力。我常常问自己，如何才能付出更多，从而为孩子们树立榜样。我常常想起甘地说过的话：我们所需的资源足够，但不足以满足我们的贪婪。还有西里尔修女在加尔各答创办了一所学校，接收了300名街头女孩，并告诉她们，她不仅教数学，也教慈悲。
我憧憬着这样一个世界：我们能够超越自我，去思考，从而创造一个更加友善、宽容、温柔的世界。我思考着，如何才能让“行善”成为我们的默认选择。我思考着，如果给予比索取更容易，分享比囤积更容易，行善比作恶更容易，世界将会变成什么样子。我思考着，如果我们能更多地向孩子学习，世界又会变成什么样子。
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Children truly have the ability to look beyond themselves and a boundary that adults tend to make around them. They and are not afraid to dream, and to speak about it. They love and give because that is how human nature was meant to be but we have as adults have lost this trait in the name of materialism and competition. Thanks for sharing this and helping me reflect and understand the importance of thinking beyond oneself. Kudos to you for doing what you do and being an example for the rest of us. Best, K
"Love courses through everything,
No, Love is everything.
How can you say, there is no love,
when nothing but Love exists?
All that you see has appeared because of Love.
All shines from Love,
All pulses with Love,
All flows from Love--
No, once again, all IS Love!"-- Fakhruddin Iraki
Thanks & God Bless you, Shaheen!
Shaheen Mistry, you are going a wonderful service to the Society. God Bless.
Beautiful! Thank you so much and many blessings to you; I am very touched and inspired by the amazing work you are doing. Thanks for sharing this with us xxx
Absolutely True. I work with Children as well and am a firm believer that if we listened to them more often, they would provide important and impactful solutions to so many issues. Adults become too clouded by "that's Not possible" children only see POSSIBLE and Wonder. Thank you so much for sharing. HUG, Kristin
I am an Indian and today I am really proud to say that we have someone like you with us. What you are doing for these children, we being her couldn't dare to. I salute and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have being doing.
Thank You and thanks to dailygood for being so good everyday.
" I wonder what the world would look like if it was easier to give than take, easier to share than hoard, easier to be good than not. I wonder what the world would look like if we learned more from our children. " A world that aligned with nature in a very real way, saw resources as the gift of the planet not things to be exploited in order to dominate all else, then we would encourage such a world. As brain imaging is proving we are empathetic, emotional, spiritual beings who have been duped into believing we are less, why..consumer economics needs us needy and starving, it wants us to believe we can buy happiness and the longer it prevails the scarcer that joy will become...hey business is good when resources are scarce. This backward ideology is at the root of todays systems, we have been trapped in dis-ease we allowed to manifest by believing that our rulers, our elite groups were worthy of trust...wow what a scam!!