Bonus Episode: Fred Rogers Quotes @MisterRogerSay

Welcome to The Neighborhood, a Mr. Rogers tribute podcast. I'm your host, Rick Lee James of rickleejames.com, and I run the Mr. Rogers Quotes Twitter account found @MrRogersSay. As we again walk into this podcast neighborhood, I I want you to know that no matter where you are from, you are welcome here. I'm glad to be your neighbor. Every daughter, every son, every tribe, and every tongue. In the spirit of Fred Rogers and the life of welcome that he lived, welcome to the neighborhood. Today is once again going to be kind of a bonus episode. This week something happened to me that is not usual. I actually had a minor surgery on my arm, and so I'm kind of at home resting and recuperating and looking for something to do that wouldn't be incredibly high impact or difficult. And something that I've been toying with for a while now, just as sort of a bonus episode for this podcast, is maybe just to use some of Fred Rogers' quotes. After all, this podcast was inspired from the @MrRogersSay Twitter account. So I thought today what I'd do while I'm sitting here in the comfort of my home recuperating from surgery is just to share with you some of my favorite Fred Rogers quotes that I've compiled. It's really going to be as simple as that. One thing that I love about Fred Rogers is the way that when he would communicate on the television set, he had it in his mind that he was communicating with one person. Now, he knew that many of us were watching and listening to that show, but in his mind, the way that helped him was to focus in like he had one person that he was speaking to. And the way that he would draw you in was not only just through talking, but also through silence. And there's something beautiful, and maybe even genius, about his communicating style. Because he gave you this sense not only that you were being talked to, but that you were also being listened to as well. And I think part of the reason that that happened was because that Fred Rogers had a way of making you listen to your true self. That in a way, as he was speaking and reminding you that you are special just the way that you are, that he was helping you to be able to listen really, truly to your deepest inner self. So, I'm not going to claim that I am even anywhere close to the communicator that Fred Rogers was. But I hope what we can do through this podcast today, as I just simply share some very meaningful quotes from Fred Rogers, things that I've just compiled and I literally have sitting on my iPad, just where I can look at them from time to time. As I read them to you, I hope that maybe you, just in a quiet place, can sit and allow yourself just to hear these words. And at the same time, hopefully allow yourself to be heard. If by no one else, then just your inner voice, that you are hearing who you truly are, the person that you were made to be. So let's go into this today. Here are several of my very favorite quotes from Fred Rogers. Children are not merely vessels into which facts are poured one week, and then when it comes time for exams, they turn themselves upside down and let facts run out. Children bring all of themselves, their feelings and their experiences, to the learning. We all have negative urges, but we don't have to act out those urges. Sometimes people are good, and good people sometimes do bad things. Are songs that I will sing to let children know that everyone does things that are naughty once in a while, but that doing something bad doesn't make you a bad person. Please think of the children first. If you ever have anything to do with their entertainment, their food, their toys, their custody, their childcare, their healthcare, their education. Listen to the children. Learn about them. Learn from them. Think of the children first. There's no should or should not when it comes to having feelings. They're part of who we are, and their origins are beyond our control. When we can believe that, we may find it easier to make constructive choices about what to do with those feelings. Many children have imaginary friends. I think that's because when a young child wishes for something that he or she doesn't have, that child will often create it by imagining it. That's a normal part of childhood. There are all kinds of artists in the world. If people can combine the talent that they have inside of them with the hard work that it takes to develop it, they can become a true artist of some kind. Caring comes from the Gothic word kara, which means to lament. So caring is not what a powerful person gives to a weaker one. Caring is a matter of being there, lamenting right along with the one who laments. Anger makes us feel so isolated. I really think that everybody, every day, should be able to feel some success. In the disappointment of a defeat, a child may seem to find little comfort in our saying, "but you really tried hard and I'm proud of you." It takes time to get over a disappointment. For those children who have learned to feel valued and loved by the people they love, these disappointments do pass. It's the children who are less fortunate, those who feel they have to bank everything on their performance, who come to believe that losing in a competition means being one of life's unloved losers. It's tempting to think a little isn't significant and that only a lot matters, but most things that are important in life start very small and change very slowly, and they don't come with fanfare and bright lights. To me, what makes someone successful is managing a healthy combination of wishing and doing. Wishing doesn't make anything happen, but it certainly can be the start of some important happenings. I realize that it isn't very fashionable to talk about some things as being holy, Nevertheless, if we ever want to rid ourselves of personal and corporate emptiness, brokenness, loneliness, and fear, we will have to allow ourselves room for that which we cannot see, hear, touch, or control. Confronting our feelings and giving them appropriate expression always takes strength. Not weakness. It takes strength to acknowledge our anger, and sometimes more strength yet to curb the aggressive urges anger may bring and to channel them into nonviolent outlets. It takes strength to face our sadness and to grieve, and to let our grief and anger flow in tears when they need to. It takes strength to talk about our feelings and to reach out for help and comfort when we need it. From the time you were very little, you've had people who have smiled you into smiling, people who have talked you into talking, sung you into singing, loved you into loving. Let's take some time to think of those extra special people. You know, when I decided to look for work in television, I couldn't possibly have known how I would be used I've simply tried to be open to the possibilities God has made available to me. May you seek out your own continuing life education, and over time, over your whole lifetime, may you grow in faith and reverence, uprightness and morals, knowledge of language and arts, forgiveness, honesty, commitment, maturity, and your capacity to love. It's a wonderful feeling when you know that people love you. You're certainly somebody that people can love. The big thing about God is God's faithfulness. Not giving up on those with whom God has made covenant. Not even giving up on them as they torture and kill each other. By the way, in that quote, Rogers was reflecting on the Holocaust when he emailed those words to writer Tom Junod. I'm wary of people who insist on trying to make other people feel bad about themselves. The more I look around me and within me, the more I notice that those who feel best about themselves have the greatest capacity to feel good about others. You know, You can always help to make each day a special day by just your being yourself. You grow in your own way. Everyone does. That's one reason why each of us is different and special, and people can like us exactly as we are. If the day ever came When we were able to accept ourselves and our children exactly as we and they are, then I believe we would have come very close to an ultimate understanding of what good parenting means. It seems to me that the most essential element in the development of any creation It must be love. A love that begins in the simple expressions of care for a little child and, once received, goes on to mature into responsible feelings about ourselves and others. I usually say at the end of each Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood program, 'You've made this day a special day by just your being you. There's only one person in the whole world like you, and people can like you just because you're you.' That's meant for children to hear, but it's meant for parents too. When I was very young, most of my childhood heroes wore capes. Flew through the air, or picked up buildings with one arm. They were spectacular and got a lot of attention. But as I grew, my heroes changed, so that now I can honestly say that anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me. Where there is pain or sorrow in our children's lives,— as there is bound to be— there is often no way we can make it go away. Often our quiet availability is just what children need, far more than they need coaxes or cajoling or threats or punishments. Our reassuring presence may be enough to help them find inner resources of their own. It's the people who feel strong and good about themselves who are best able to accept outside difference, their own and others'. Being kind means responding to the needs of others, and people can be kind no matter how old or young. We are. All we're ever asked to do in this life is to treat our neighbor, especially our neighbor who is in need, exactly as we would hope to be treated ourselves. That's our ultimate responsibility. Sometime in your day today, try to turn off all the noises you can around you. And give yourself some quiet time. In the silence, let yourself think about something, or if possible, think about nothing. Neighbors are people who are close to us, and friends are people who are close to our hearts. I like to think of you as my neighbor and my friend. Love is at the root of everything. All learning, all parenting, all relationships— love or the lack of it. The most important learning is the ability to accept and expect mistakes and deal with the disappointments that they bring. I have tried to encourage children to love and care for themselves and to love the parents who care for them. That's the way true neighborliness grows—loving others as we first loved ourselves. There isn't anyone you couldn't learn to love once you've heard their story. Children have very strong feelings. Children love intensely, and they get angry just as intensely. They can be so happy that they laugh out loud, and they can be so sad that they feel the their hearts are breaking. And often the way children look at others depends a lot on how they feel within themselves. The purpose of life is to listen—to yourself, to your neighbor, to your world, and to God—and when the time comes, to respond in as helpful a way you can find, from within and without. I think one of the greatest gifts that we can give anybody is the gift of one more honest adult in that person's life, whether it be a child or an adult. Some days doing the best we can may still fall short, of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn't perfect on any front, and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else. Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered as a matter of course just one kind word to another person. There is no person in this whole world who is a mistake, no matter how different that person may seem. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if God and neighbor are somehow one. Loving God, loving neighbor, the same thing. For me, coming to recognize that God loves every neighbor is the ultimate appreciation. By listening, you minister to me. Do you get enough quiet? When I say, "It's you I like," I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch, that deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive: love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed. Well, friends, I think I'm gonna leave it there for today. I hope you have enjoyed these quotes from Fred Rogers. I'll be honest, while I've been sitting here reading them again to you, It's been good for my own heart. Maybe even good for my healing process. I just want to, on a personal note, also say thank you to many of you who have written to me on Twitter or elsewhere and wished me well in my recovery, and I really do appreciate that. I really am so glad that we are neighbors together, both on this podcast and on Twitter and It can be such a difficult and angry place sometimes on Twitter, but those of you who follow and reply and share these tweets with each other and share your kind words with me, you really do make the day special, and I appreciate you so much. I think that together you are helping to make Twitter and our world even a much brighter place. Some of these wonderful quotes that we have from Fred Rogers, I hope that they are are good for your heart as they have been for mine today and over the years. And I hope that in the coming days that we'll continue to share these times together. So I guess that's about it for today, and I thank you for listening in to this special episode, another bonus of Welcome to the Neighborhood. Thank you for your patience as we continue to plot and to plan out season 2 of this podcast. But I thank you all for joining in even on these bonus episodes that are a little different than our usual show. So thank you for joining me here this week in the neighborhood. Music featured on this podcast was Nouvelle Noël by Kevin MacLeod. Special thanks to my friends at @MrRogersSayCommunity on Twitter. I'm your host, Rick Lee James. My personal Twitter account is @RickLeeJames. My website is rickleejames.com. My other podcast is Voices in My Head: The Rick Lee James Podcast. And I look forward to being with you again next time. So until we meet again, remember, you make each day a special day. You know how? By just your being you. There's only one person in this whole world like you, and people can like you exactly as you are.