The Power of Kind Parenting

By: Juho Tunkelo

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to read a lot of books on parenting. Sure, once in a while I’ll grab a bestseller and see what it’s about, but most of the time I like to just trust my instincts and go with the flow.

However… there is always the exception that comes once in a few years, the kind that makes you stop in your tracks, take notice and devour everything about it.

I just came across such an exception, a book my dear wife Satu had recommended to me for a long time, but somehow I just kept pushing it away.

I shouldn’t have. Because not only is this book groundbreaking, it’s breathtakingly practical, appealing to common sense as well as your deepest emotions as a parent… it’s also revolutionary in its power to transform the mundane.

I’m talking about The Power of Kindness by Piero Ferrucci. He is a transpersonal psychologist who has written many outstanding books, among them the parenting masterpiece What Our Children Teach Us.

This book however, although not directly about parenting, is intimately applicable to all aspects of being a parent.

The book is about a concept that is, like most great concepts, profound but also deceptively simple. His book explores the many facets of kindness, showing us step by step how kindness is ALWAYS the best choice in life. And not only for ourselves, or our close ones, but everyone we may come in touch with.

The Power of Kindness breaks down into 18 main chapters, each portraying an important aspect of kindness. Here they are, listed in the order they are in the book:

• HONESTY
• WARMTH
• FORGIVENESS
• CONTACT
• SENSE OF BELONGING
• TRUST
• MINDFULNESS
• EMPATHY
• HUMILITY
• PATIENCE
• GENEROSITY
• RESPECT
• FLEXIBILITY
• MEMORY
• LOYALTY
• GRATITUDE
• SERVICE
• JOY

That list is powerful all by itself, isn’t it? If you let it take hold of your consciousness and guide you to calm waters where things look bright again… like they used to be when they weren’t so complicated yet, right?

I cannot really make justice to the book without writing a treatise so long it wouldn’t fit in a blog anyway.

So I’ll let the writer of the preface do the talking, His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself (excerpts):

“This is a book after my own heart. Piero Ferrucci has drawn on both his broad experience as a psychotherapist and what I think of as fundamental human values to write on the importance of kindness.

I believe that if we stop to think, it is clear that our very survival, even today, depends upon the acts and kindness of so many people. If at the beginning and end of our lives we depend upon others’ kindness, why then in the middle, when we have the opportunity, should we not act kindly toward others?

On a simple, practical level, kindness creates a sense of warmth and openness that allows us to communicate much more easily with other people. We discover that all human beings are just like us, so we are able to relate to them more easily.

What is more, there is increasing evidence that cultivating positive mental states like kindness and compassion definitely leads to better pschylogical health and happiness.

For our life to be of value, as Piero Ferrucci amply demonstrates here, — and I am grateful to him for expressing it so clearly — we need to foster and nurture such basic good human qualities as warmth, kindness, and compassion. If we can do that, our lives will become meaningful, happier, and more peaceful; we will make a positive contribution to the world around us.”

If you want a one-size-fits-all approach for happy parenting, family life, and life in general - look no further.

The Power of Kindness will take you by the hand, walk you through the valley of your past experiences of unkindness (we all have them), and show you a future where you AND your children will enjoy a softness of life that lasts a lifetime.

Isn’t that worth taking a chance?

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Tagged as: piero ferrucci, Positive Parenting, the power of kindness