March is full of commemorative days; from International Women’s Day which we celebrated on 8th March, to the first day of Spring, there is a lot to reflect upon. For our last post of the month, we wanted to commemorate one of our favourite authors, Dr. Seuss, who was celebrated this month on the anniversary of his birthday. Born on the 2nd March 1904, Seuss was an American author, political cartoonist, poet and artist.
Loved around the world, and topping the charts as the ninth-best-selling fiction author of all time, we wanted to reflect on his work to show that sometimes the brightest pearls of wisdom can be hidden in the wackiest of places.
This week, we hand the blog over to David who was brought up on Dr. Seuss tales and continued the tradition by reading them to his children. From the wise snippet, he wrote in his daughter’s graduation card, to a quote that got his Mum through a difficult time, Seuss’s words have left a lasting impact on our founder. Over to David!
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I wanted to write this post in celebration of Doctor Seuss because I’ve found that words of wisdom can often be found in the funniest places. Dr. Seuss writes for children, so naturally, there is always a moral to be taken away, but what really strikes me about his writing is the lightness, the positivity, and the humorous approach.
We can take life so seriously sometimes and often our best work is produced when we are relaxed. Seuss’s books are real and wonderful and bursting with amazing quotes. I’ve rounded up a few of my favourites.
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…”
I wrote this quote in my daughter’s graduation card and she’s carried it around with her ever since. At 21, the world was her oyster but she didn’t have a clear idea of what she wanted to do. This terrified her. But the beauty was, that after years of education and following a set route, she could go wherever she wanted. Suddenly, freedom became exciting.
I love this quote because it reminds me that our perspective on life is incredibly powerful, and has the ability to change everything. There is a great confidence and trust about this quote, which is important too.
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
This quote has great significance for me. My Dad passed away suddenly in 2012 and after 63 years of marriage, my Mum found herself alone for the first time in years. She was stoic and strong but nothing can prepare you for that loss.
My best friend of 30 years flew over from Toronto (a 5-hour flight) to be at the funeral, and he shared the Seuss quote with my Mum, who said it helped her an incredible amount in such a difficult time. She had years of memories and happy experiences to think back on which shed a bit of light on such a dark time. They lived, they loved and it was brilliant, and this quote is a celebration of this and of everything in life. All good things come to an end, but that does not mean they go away. They are with us forever, and I love this quote for reminding me of that.
“And will you succeed? Yes you will indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)”
As entrepreneurs, you’ll know that nothing is certain and failure is inevitable. Nevertheless, I love the abundance of positivity and humour in this quote. Yes, you may fail a lot and you may fail hard but you will also experience success, although it might not take the form you had imagined. If you can accept that failure is part of everyone’s story, it takes away some of the fear. It is something we all experience, but not enough of us talk about, so I think this quote is important in that it encourages us to approach the idea of failure with a little humour.
Did you have Dr Seuss read to you as a child? Or do you still love it now? Comment and let us know. We’d love to hear your favourite quotes!
Hope you enjoyed this post, until next week!
David
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