Lessons from Mr. Rogers, Working Remotely and Being Good Neighbors

Even though my City of Hope Orange County team is working remotely these days, we come together once a day to keep the work moving, share how we are, and stay connected as a community. Each day one of us offers a reflection to kick off the meeting. I’ve found it's a good way for us to stay grounded and engaged. Today Nathan Lammers pulled this together and I just thought it was too good not to share. I hope you like it.

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Today, March 20, is Mr. Rogers' Birthday

I pulled together some of his quotes that speak to this time, but also to the work we’re doing in Orange County. They remind me of the most important things in life and what we can still practice together even as we are apart:

TO HELP

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

 TO BE RESOURCEFUL

"It’s not so much what we have in this life that matters. It’s what we do with what we have."

 TO CREATE

"Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else."

 TO BE CALLED TO WORK

“Imagining something may be the first step in making it happen, but it takes the real time and real efforts of real people to learn things, make things, turn thoughts into deeds or visions into inventions."

 TO GROW

"There is no normal life that is free of pain. It’s the very wrestling with our problems that can be the impetus for our growth."

 TO GIVE

“All of us, at some time or other, need help. Whether we’re giving or receiving help, each one of us has something valuable to bring to this world. That’s one of the things that connects us as neighbors—in our own way, each one of us is a giver and a receiver.”

TO BE KIND

"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."

 As we spend more time with our own thoughts during these times, let’s remember how we can use this time TO HELP, TO BE RESOURCEFUL, TO CREATE, TO WORK, TO GROW, TO GIVE and TO BE KIND. So in closing, I have one question – “Wont you be my neighbor?”

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Nathan, thank you so much for this reflection. Now my suggestion to all of you is to share this post and tonight take the time to watch the movie Won’t You Be My Neighbor. And for all those other leaders out there finding themselves leading a remote team—try reflections as way to pause, collect yourself and connect beyond what a Zoom meeting may provide. Have a good weekend and be safe.