During this week’s mindfulness lesson on Generosity, I asked my 5th grade students to share examples of acts of generosity they either performed or witnessed in the past week. The students told sweet anecdotes along the lines of, “my friend shared her snack with me when I didn’t have one,” and, “I helped my little sister clean her room.” Then one student hesitantly raised her hand and said, “I don’t know if this counts as generosity, but over the weekend my brother’s little league team played a double-header so I was at the park for five hours. I wasn’t interested in watching the games, so instead I spent most of the time picking up trash around the ball fields and playground nearby.”
Just in time for Earth Day, I loved this student’s reminder that YES, we absolutely can and should be generous to our Earth. After all, we are stewards of our planet and of the spaces in which we live. Caring for our Earth can make us feel happy and can also inspire others towards stewardship and environmental activism. This Earth Day, I encourage you to be mindful of how our planet has been generous to humankind with all of her resources, and to consider how we can be generous to the Earth in return.
Anchor Mindful Teaching 