Well said Mr. Rogers!!
After the tragic school shooting in Connecticut I heard a lot of people asking things like "what's wrong with the world?" My opinion is that we have too many negative influences in our lives. Or rather that we focus too much of our energy on those negative influences. Think about a typical news broadcast, there are probably ten ugly stories about violence or theft for every one story about something positive. People point to violent movies, video games, and song lyrics as causes for violent behavior. The real issue (in my opinion) is the absence of gentle, kind and compassionate influences. We have forgotten how to recognize and appreciate them!!
The other day a car swerved across two lanes of traffic to get onto the freeway in front of me. Instead of causing an accident or refusing to let him into the line of traffic, I took 5 seconds out of my day to let them in. Because of this "kindness" I had to suffer the abuse of the angry driver behind me. This driver was so upset at my actions (?!?) that he/she was honking their horn and flashing their brights at me for a ridiculously long time. I'm not sure what they would have suggested I do (I didn't stop to ask), but letting that other car in ahead of us was clearly unacceptable.
Last year a student shared a story about when she said "Thank you" to her bus driver and her friends reaction was "Why did you say that?" with the typical scornful teenage tone. The student persisted, continuing to thank the driver every day and eventually it caught on and other students started doing the same. But that initial reaction is very telling...
We seem to have lost the ability to recognize and appreciate kindness around us. We question people's motives, assume the worst, and ridicule people for doing the right thing. I believe that future tragedies may be prevented if we can all learn how to appreciate the compassion and kindness that we see in the world... and pass it on.
