Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Advice on Acceptance

It seems to me that all of the best advice that has ever been given has been given to children. Throughout time, children have been running around believing that they can be whatever they want to be when they grow up. They believe that when they get older, they will be the strongest, bravest, smartest, etc. person in the whole world. Finally when they do get older, the people who told them to dream big are the same people who are now saying that their dreams mean absolutely nothing. One can no longer be who he or she wants to be. In order to succeed, one must conform, walk the straight and narrow, fit an unfittable mold that society constructs. Now, we, as adults, are unable to dream as we did when we were children. We are no longer able to be ourselves.

To heck with that. The crazy blond lady in the film "Under the Tuscan Sun" said it best when she said, "Never lose your childish innocence".

In my opinion, the biggest problem that we are facing today, a problem that I believe is the root of a lot of our other problems, is the inability to be accepting. Of course, there is a line that needs to be drawn when it comes to ethical issues, but when we look at our history, I think we will find a multitude of things that could have been prevented if we were able to be more accepting.

Here is some advice that today's children might recognize and may be helpful for adults.

Self Acceptance- Barney the Purple Dinosaur had it right when he had his friends sing "You are special! You're the only one; you're the only one like you. There is no other in the whole wide world who can do the things you do."

Acceptance of others- At risk of completely contradicting what Barney had to say, Raffi sings, "Each one is much like another. A child of a mother and a father. A very special son or daughter, a lot like me and you."

The Acceptance of new things and ideas- Well I think that Pippi Longstocking would have a thing or two to say about that. Maybe something along the lines of "Just because something is new and different doesn't mean it has to be bad."

Acceptance of unwanted outcomes- Stephanie from Lazytown sings, "There is always a way, you gotta know you can make it. There is always a way. You gotta believe in yourself. Soon you'll be shining 'cause you never stopped trying. Really believe there is always a way."


Here's a cute little video to make you smile

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