An old shloka in ancient Hindu Books Vedas is ....

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामया, सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद् दुख भागभवेत। 

Have you ever thought about when caring begins to mean something to us? When do we start to understand that being able to care brings a sense of gratification and fulfillment to us, not to mention what our caring does for others? Developmentally, it is not until early adulthood that we are equipped to fully empathize, and that might be a generous statement. We learn to empathize through shared experiences with others, allowing us to move beyond sympathy, or having concern for the suffering of others, to feeling their pain, sorrow, hardship and hurt ourselves.

But what about simple caring—acts, outreaches, gestures—that we offer to others? This begins at a very early age. Picture a baby in a high chair reaching out to you, offering one of his precious Cheerios? Or a second grader who reaches out her hand to help a friend up from the carpet after story-time? Or an adolescent who comes to an adult because he is concerned about the negative choices his friend is making? Caring has its own significance in every one of these acts, even though the baby is not aware of what caring means.