Just this week I was introduced to King Friday XIII having only heard of him. Turns out that he is “the imperious monarch of the neighborhood." According to Wikipedia, "he is relatively egocentric, irrational, resistant to change, and temperamental, although open-minded enough to listen when told he is wrong. He has a fondness for giving long-winded speeches and using big words.”
Yikes! He feels really familiar to me - maybe because I am a little like him…
- Relatively egocentric, huh? ...Yep, but then aren’t we all?
- Irrational? ...Okay, sometimes guilty.
- Resistant to change? Oh, dear; that could be me.
- Giving long-winded speeches and using big words? ...Seriously?!? Yah; don’t ask my family about that one!
I certainly did not expect to discover how much I am like King Friday. To the contrary, here I have been really hoping to emulate the mild-mannered Mister Rogers. I am convinced that the world would be a better place if more of us would learn to be more like him. Because you see, there are lots of us who are egocentric, irrational, resistant to change, temperamental, and yes, even imperious*.
The most obvious trait I want to learn is that of kindness. Mister Rogers used to say… “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.”
Yah, sounds redundant and maybe even silly; right?
But it gives me pause.
That’s the way I want to live my life.
That’s who I want to be - someone who treats all people with kindness.
So how do I do that?
Perhaps by following yet another of his examples - that of listening. Really listening. Listening to learn how it feels to be in the other person’s shoes. That kind of deep listening requires me to become comfortable with silence. To give myself time to think before reacting.
Oof!!! I admit that I am not good at that one! Silence can feel awkward, as if it needs to be filled. But Mister Rogers believed that “Silence is one of the greatest gifts we have.”
Oh, dear. Here I’ve been saying all week that I want to be like Mister Rogers and then I find out that I might be more like King Friday! How will I ever upgrade to those more admirable traits?
But wait; there was one other trait that I might share with King Friday… One that I’m kind of happy about. I did notice that he is “open-minded enough to listen when told he is wrong.”
Good for him!!!
And good for me when I can do that.
Because that’s how I can become better. If I can be open-minded enough to listen, then maybe I can be kinder and more understanding…
But then... even while I’m trying to be better...
What’s that I hear off in the distance... ?
“You are special and I like you just the way you are.”
Thanks, Mister Rogers!
I’m learning to like me just the way I am, too.
And that’s another really good step toward liking other people just the way they are.
...
* Vocab words for you to look up...
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