A Neighbor For The Ages

I went to see a documentary for the second time within the last month and it felt as if I was watching the movie for the very first time.  "Won't You Be My Neighbor", depicts the life of Fred Rogers from "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood", which was a children's show on public broadcasting television that ran for 33 years.  I remember it more like a dream from being a young kid and watching his show, where I was introduced to this man who would sing short songs on just about anything and talk very genuinely about how he was pleased to see me.  As I watched the film I was reminded that through his show, in which he emphasized the importance of treating others with respect, being kind and hearing from an adult that we all matter.  In my view, this film is something that the greater population around the world could benefit from seeing, as we are all in need of such a reminder.  Through out the film, I laughed, learned new things and even cried, with montage of stories that were told about this great person, who is no longer with us today.  Through the words of his surviving wife, two sons and a myriad of the show's staff and supporting characters, we learned that he was the same person that we saw on the television set as he was in real life.  It made my heart feel so good afterwards, because the movie provided validation that we have great examples of the good that can exist among us.  As I came home from the movies later that night and began to see a bit of the news with burning fires that they were reporting through the western parts of the U.S., along with other negative stories that went from politicians to the losses of life around us, I quickly began to yearn for an additional dose of Mr. Rogers to remind me that things were going to be okay.  It is funny, how we are all in need of hearing this from time to time. If you are old enough that you no longer have your parents with you, it is the reassuring voice from someone like them that can fill an empty space inside your heart and enable you to sleep at night, with the comfort of knowing that all will be well in the morning.  There are far too many other examples in the world about how things are not going right and very little attention is paid to what actually is.  I therefore highly encourage you to not only go see this film, before it stops playing at the local theaters, I would also ask that you take some time to count the things that are going right in your life and have a moment of appreciation for all of them.  We rarely stop to acknowledge the good, as we tend to favor the other discussions that feel much more heavier.  Let's face it, we can talk about those negative things until we are blue in the face and we still would have more to add afterwards.  Therefore, I challenge you to take a detour from that aforementioned type of negative thinking and speaking while you pay attention to the good that you do see around you or the many positive things that are going right in your life.  I also would like to remind you like Mr. Rogers said on many occasions, "There is no person in the whole world like you and I like you just the way you are".  What child or adult would not like to hear these words, no matter what your age is?  More importantly, it would be great to see the approval of the many folks that see themselves as damaged or incomplete in some way, by simply acknowledging a person while looking at them in the eye and greeting them with a smile, as you show them respect and unconditional acceptance.  The world could be a much better place if we acted more like Mr. Rogers did and I hope that we can all agree to at least try among each other as members of the human race.