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The
World According to Fred Rogers by Fred Rogers Rating: ••• (Recommended) |
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title or picture to buy from amazon.com |
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Special Many
parents welcomed the time of day when watching Mister Rogers Neighborhood would calm restless children and relax
stressed parents. As a tribute to Fred Rogers, his co-workers compiled some
of his memorable sayings and songs into a small book, published after his
death. Here’s an excerpt from the chapter titled “The Challenges of Inner
Discipline,” pp. 99-105: Imagining
something may be the first step in making it happen, but it takes the real
time and real efforts of real people to learn things, make things, turn
thoughts into deeds or visions into inventions. What
makes the difference between wishing and realizing our wishes? Lots of
things, of course, but the main one, I think, is whether we link our wishes
to our active work. It may take months or years, but it’s far more likely to
happen when we care so much that we’ll work as hard as we can to make it
happen. And when we’re working toward the realization of our wishes, some of
our greatest strengths come from the encouragement of people who care about
us. Discipline
is a teaching-learning kind of relationship as the similarity of the word disciple
suggests. By helping our children learn to be self-disciplined, we are
also helping them learn how to become independent of us as, sooner or later,
they must. And we are helping them learn how to be loving parents to children
of their own. FROM THE SONG What
Do You Do with the Mad That You Feel? What
do you do with the mad that you feel When
you feel so mad you could bite? When
the whole wide world Seems
oh, so wrong And
nothing you do seems very right? What
do you do? Do you punch a bag? Do
you pound some clay or some dough? Do
you round up friends for a game of tag? Or
see how fast you go? It’s
great to be able to stop When
you’ve planned a thing that’s wrong. And
be able to do something else instead And
think this song: I
can stop when I want to, Can
stop when I wish, Can
stop, stop, stop anytime. And
what a good feeling to feel like this, And
know that the feeling is really mine. Know
that there’s something deep inside That
helps us become what we can, For
a girl can be someday a woman And
a boy can be someday a man. How
great it is when we come to know that times of disappointment can be followed
by times of fulfillment; that sorrow can be followed by joy; that guilt over
falling short of our ideals can be replaced by pride in doing all that we
can; and that anger can be channeled into creative achievements . . . and into dreams that we can make come
true! I
like to swim, but there are some days I just don’t feel much like doing
it—but I do it anyway! I know it’s good for me and I promised myself
I’d do it every day, and I like to keep my promises. That’s one of my
disciplines. And it’s a good feeling after you’ve tried and done something
well. Inside you think, “I’ve kept at this and I’ve really learned it—not by
magic, but by my own work.” Stressed
executives, who are struggling to do some work well
will find some encouragement on the pages of The World
According to Fred Rogers. Steve
Hopkins, March 23, 2004 |
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ã 2004 Hopkins and Company, LLC The recommendation rating for
this book appeared in the April 2004
issue of Executive Times URL for this review: http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/The
World According to Fred Rogers.htm For Reprint Permission,
Contact: Hopkins & Company, LLC • E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
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