A Little Child Shall Teach Them

I have always said that the one thing I liked doing best was being a Dad. I loved every minute of raising my daughters. They have always been, and still are, the light of my life. Now that they have grown, it has gotten better – it’s called grandchildren. As of this writing, there are ten. My wife and I cannot get enough of them. Children are like discovering the world all over again, and each has its own perspective.

One of my heroes in life has been Mr. Rogers. Every morning I would sing, “It’s a lovely day in the neighborhood…” to my girls (they hated it). To this day, I have a picture of Fred Rogers on my bookshelf. Fred Rogers understood that grown-ups had as much to learn from children as the children did from grow-ups. He would say, “You know, you don’t have to look like everybody else to be accepted and to feel accepted.” A lesson all success-minded people need to know.

“There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child

than the discourses of men.”

John Locke

1632-1704

Philosopher

Another person who taught great lessons to children, as well as adults, was Dr. Seuss. He said, “Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if you only try.” This is an excellent principle of life. If you did not read to your children, you would have missed that. Sadly, some who read still miss it anyway, thinking it is for kids.

Children can offer you an excellent education if you pay attention. As adults, we work so hard to teach them to be like us, when if we were wise, we would learn to be more like them. There is a reason that Jesus said we were to be like little children. Children can believe the impossible with little effort. They are told they can be anything, and they believe it. It is not until they start to grow, and we tell them they must be reasonable that they begin to limit themselves.

Spend time with children and purposely learn from them. Stop being the “grown-up” for a while and play with them, allowing them to teach you. Fred Rogers always said, “Play is the work of childhood.” The world is full of wonder; the success-minded person can rediscover it all from the eyes and thoughts of a child.

“Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God

like a child shall not enter it at all.”

 Luke 18:17

You can learn more about Personal Development from author and speaker, John Patrick Hickey. To get his books, training material, or book him to speak to your church, business, or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.   

© 2020 John Patrick Hickey. No part of this may be reprinted or published without the permission of the author.