One Minute of Silence is inspired by the late Fred Rogers aka Mister Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood fame. I discovered it and a wealth of other information about this man a lot later than most.
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One Minute Of Silence Defined
Towards the end of the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor, you’re invited by Mister Rogers to take one minute and think about someone who has helped you become who you are today. As he says there:
Let’s just take some time to think of those extra special people. Some of them may be right here. Some may be far away. Some may even be in heaven. No matter where they are, deep down you know they’ve always wanted what was best for you. They’ve always cared about you beyond measure and have encouraged you to be true to the best within you.
Fred Rogers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor
The Root of Everything
At one point early in the documentary he says, “Love is at the root of everything.” Wow! I invite you to not just experience the One Minute of Silence described above, but to watch the full documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor. After watching it, I realized a greater appreciation for Fred Rogers. For example, I never knew he was an ordained minister nor that his children’s television program was in effect his ministry. Growing up, I confess I thought his show was a bit boring. (My loss!) I missed the depth of his program, as well as the importance of the various themes he tackled.
The Gift of One Minute
I found a video clip on YouTube called The Invisible Gift of One Silent Minute and it has a variation of the one minute exercise. Everyone hopefully has a minute to try this. If not, I also found a 10 second version from his Lifetime Achievement Award Acceptance Speech. While I think viewing both versions is informative, I challenge everyone to adopt the full minute version as a gift of gratitude to the other person(s), and yourselves!
Conclusion
That’s it for this time. Did you have one person (or many) who helped to shape you into who you are today? Feel free to share in the comments. I can honestly say I am blessed to have had many. Some are in heaven, some are still here, and I am very grateful to them all.
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