Dr Seuss asks You to Discover Your Place in Life, Be Your Best Self
We just got home from vacation. Each year we head to my parent’s cabin on a beautiful lake in British Columbia, Canada. There are so many memories of my childhood there. I especially love picking up the well worn books off the shelf in the corner to read to my children. These are the books I read as a child. Illustrations, rhymes, tattered covers take me back to the innocence, joy, and simplicity of that time.
This year my six year old loved reading the Dr Seuss books. As I read Put Me in the Zoo
Questioning Who You Are
First the leopard is rejected and tossed out of the zoo, then he is asked by the young girl and boy “What good are you? What can you do?”
Don’t we all ask ourselves those same questions? Again and again at various times in our lives we search to define who we are, our worth, our contributions.
Your Time to Shine
And so the leopard shows all he can do by turning his spots various colours, juggling them, changing their size, etc. He is one talented leopard!
You are too! It is vital to remember that we all have talents and abilities…divine worth. As we come to know ourselves, we can shine by being the genuine article: our best, truest self. Share it with the world. Do your thing!
Finding Your Place
However, the girl and boy regretfully inform a disappointed and discouraged leopard, “But you should not be in the zoo.” Only to show him his true calling, “…the circus is the place for you.”
We also need to find the place we truly belong, somewhere we can shine. We may need a guide, a teacher, a friend to show us the way. That place may also change as we grow and learn, progressing along life’s journey. However, once we are there, we, like the leopard, can bask in the joy of finding our place, of being our best selves.
So I thank Dr Seuss (and my sweet daughter) for making me reflect on these essential life questions.
- What is your mission?
- How can you fulfill it?
- Have you found your place?
- Are you sharing and giving joyfully from the heart?
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Yay for Dr. Seuss! My nephew didn’t like reading – except for the good Doctor. He would snuggle up on the couch for Hop on Pop and the Cat in the Hat – one of the few times of the day he would sit still.
I just love this. Always so amazed just how brilliant Dr. Suess really was. All of his books have such wonderful underlying messages, presented in fantastical way – in other words, totally engaging for kids. As children’s yoga teachers, that’s our job, too!
Listening to our own inner wisdom and knowing that we are all special in our beautiful and unique ways is the basis I think for all other lessons. Self-acceptance and the acceptance of the uniqueness of others, following our own path and finding our true calling in life is an ongoing adventure. Like you say, ‘That place may also change as we grow and learn, progressing along life’s journey.’ And just when we think we’ve ‘arrived’, we are actually just getting started as things will change, as they always do…which is why it’s important to enjoy and be present in the actual journey.
Again, just love Dr. Suess!
One of my favorite books too… Thanks for the synopsis.