Kid President has become a YouTube sensation in the past few years. So, who exactly is Kid President? Robby Novak is 11 years old, and is more wise than a lot of adults I know. Robby started making videos in 2012 with his brother-in-law, Brad Montague. Brad had a vision, an idea, a belief that kids are worth listening to. Robby and Brad's videos have inspired kids and adults alike to treat others as the intrinsically special people that they were created to be, and to make the world a better place. I believe the world is becoming a better place, one Kid President quote at a time.
Here are 10 of Kid President's awesome quotes. It was so hard picking just 10, because all of the quotes have great applications to our lives. But these are just some of my favorites:
1. “If you can’t think of anything nice to say, you’re not thinking hard enough!”
So often, we say things that aren’t nice. Maybe we don’t say these not-nice things to someone’s face, but talking about someone behind their back is just as hurtful. The old rule that has been instilled in so many of us since we were knee high to a grasshopper has been, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” But in reality, in any situation, you should try to think of something nice to say. There will always be something there. So no, you may not like a person, but they may have a beautiful smile. They may be really good at drawing. They may have on a really cute pair of shoes. Don’t downplay someone else’s positive traits just because you aren’t a fan of theirs.
2. “Give people high fives just for getting out of bed. Being a person is hard sometimes.”
Life is stressful. We all have a variety of hard stuff in our lives …school, relationships, sports, whatever it may be, we all have our share of things in life that stress us out. So yes, being a person is hard sometimes. Sometimes it’s all you can do to turn the alarm off and roll out of bed (or climb out of your lofted bed if you’re a college student … don’t try to roll out of one of those!). In the moments when life gets hard, it’s always nice to have a little encouragement from someone else who has been in our shoes and knows how we feel. We’re all human, and we all struggle. Let someone know you care, and let them know that you’re proud of them.
3. “Life is tough, but so are you.”
I love this one. He hits the nail on the head here. Life is tough. It really is. Sometimes life can feel like a never ending roller coaster, it can make you feel like you just got hit by a bus, it can make you want to crawl into your bed and sleep for a week straight. But hey, you’re tough. You’ve made it through all of your bad days so far, and you have a 100 percent survival rate. That’s pretty good if you ask me. No matter what life throws at you, you are tough enough to make it through.
4. “Here is a surprise corndog I bought you because you’re my friend.”
So no, maybe you aren’t buying corndogs for your friends randomly. Well, maybe you are, and that’s super awesome. But I think what Kid President is trying to say is that we all need to feel appreciated every once in a while. Do something kind for one of your friends, and just let them know how much they mean to you. Buy your roommate her favorite snack. Leave a sweet note in your friend’s chair in one of your classes. Heck, buy someone a surprise corndog! You’ll find that giving a simple token of your appreciation to a friend will not only improve their day exponentially, it’ll improve yours as well.
5. “I’ve got barbecue sauce on my shirt, too.”
Kid President prefaces this quote by saying that before we point out the “barbecue sauce” on someone else’s shirt, we should acknowledge the “barbecue sauce” on our own shirts, too. Basically, before pointing out someone else’s flaws, take a moment to realize that you also have flaws. No one is perfect, not even you, and that is completely normal.
6. “You’re here. You take up space. You matter.”
Yes. YOU MATTER. Don’t let anyone, even yourself, tell you otherwise. We are so good at telling ourselves lies. People can make us feel inadequate. They can make us feel like we are unimportant. We are even really good at telling ourselves that no one cares about us, that we don’t matter … but in reality, we are loved. We are valued. We are worthy. We are cherished. And we matter.
7. “Life is what happens when you put down your phone.”
I think if people spent as much time truly getting to know one another instead of simply “knowing” them via social media, the world would be a lot more fun. When you actually talk to someone in person, you see the real them. You don’t get the edited version. You don’t get the version with a filter on it. You don’t get just the highlight reels of their life. You get it all … the good, the bad, the ugly … and you get to walk alongside them through it all.
8. “Some days gross things will happen. Some days awesome things will happen. Some days you’ll get ice cream. Some days you won’t. Some days your kite will fly high, some days it’ll get stuck in the tree. That’s just how it happens here.”
This one’s pretty self explanatory. Some days are good. Some days are bad. The bad days just make you appreciate the good ones even more, and bad days don’t last forever. Even the worst of days only have 24 hours.
9. “The biggest mess-up … not forgiving each other’s mess-ups.”
We are human and we are bound to mess up at times. We can’t do everything exactly right. And that’s alright! But what isn’t alright is not looking past those mess-ups. Everyone messes up, and we all deserve another chance.
10. “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Drink it. Dance.”
This one is just simply a matter of doing the best you can with what you’ve got. Sure, life can throw some curveballs at us. But make the best of it. And I promise you that sometimes, the best things can come out of things that seem awful at first. In the end, you may even have reason to dance about it. We can all use a reason to dance.
If you're ever having a bad day, you're in a bad mood, or you're just feeling down-in-the-dumps, I encourage you to go watch a Kid President video on YouTube. His joy and positivity are contagious. Even in spite of some rough circumstances ... Robby has osteogenesis imperfecta, meaning that he has very brittle bones and has had more than 70 broken bones and 13 surgeries. But despite that, he still has a reason to smile, because the world is a beautiful place. Each video will leave you with a smile that will make you want to go out and leave a smile on everyone's face that you come in contact with.
Finally, I'll close with another important quote from Kid President ... "You're alive, you're awesome, ACT LIKE IT."
