The only TV show Mazin watches is Curious George. This is probably an arbitrary rule we created to make us feel better about sitting him in front of the screen for 20 minutes. But I don't know--I've watched it with him many times, searching for clues as to why the "experts" say he shouldn't. And I just don't see how anyone could object to a toddler watching this show. There are no commercials, and the drawings and story are very simple (painfully so). So he watches--and loves it, of course. George is the protagonist, but I always find my attention drawn to the man with the yellow hat. Why is he nameless? Why always yellow? And most important: where does he get his endless, endless store of patience?George is always getting into trouble. He doesn't mean to--he's just curious. He is a monkey, after all. It's in his nature. And he learns mostly by making an unholy mess of things. (He now has some amazing abilities, thanks to his destructive exploits: planting a garden, fixing the plumbing, and scuba diving, for instance.) Somehow, through it all, the man with a yellow hat keeps a smile on his face. And it's not a fake smile, either. He seems to really love this monkey, no matter how many different ways George trashes his apartment.
The man with the yellow hat is my new role model. Maybe I should get myself something yellow, to remind me that no matter how frustrated I get, patience is always another option. I can choose patience. I can practice patience. And what more spiritual practice could one ask for?
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