Every now and again a book comes along that resonates so deeply, it becomes a classic. The four books A. A. Milne wrote for children, not least his only son Christopher, did exactly that.

My six-year-old son and I have had a blast reading these books at bedtime. One reason they are so popular, I’m convinced, is because we adults realize we too need to learn the lessons of the Hundred Acre Wood.

Following are three such lessons.

1. Value the differences in the people around you.

Rabbit wants to “unbounce” Tigger because Tigger is, well, he’ just too bouncy. So Rabbit hatches a bounce eradication plan. His plan is to set Tigger up to get lost.

Rabbit figures if Tigger gets lost and realizes how much he needs the others, he’ll stop being so bouncy. But the plan backfires, and Rabbit is the one who gets lost. Guess who saves him? The irrepressible Tigger, whose bounciness is a crucial part of the rescue.

Let’s face it, we all have colleagues or family members who get on our nerves for one reason or another. The story of Rabbit and Tigger reminds us that the shoe may well be on the other foot. We just might get on someone else’s nerves from time to time, and one person’s nuisance just might end up being that same person’s salvation.

2. When we get in trouble, we need help.

Just about every chapter in these books is the story of a character getting into some kind of trouble. Pooh gets stuck in the door of Rabbit’s house. Eeyore loses his tail. Owl’s tree falls over in a storm. It is instructive that the characters are never able to save themselves from these dire situations. They always need help.

How are you doing with that? Do you accept help? Do you seek it out?

Our culture tells us to do it ourselves. Our pride tells us no one else can do it better. Add to that how busy we are, and asking for help falls by the wayside. Winnie the Pooh and his friends teach us that all of the most important things in life happen when people help each other.

Did you hear that? If you’re not giving and receiving help, you’re not truly living.

3. Don’t always trust authority.

Christopher Robin leads his friends on an “expotition” to the north pole. They find a random pole in the Hundred Acre Wood, Christopher declares it the north pole, and the adventure is complete. In the words of my son, “Even Christopher Robin gets it wrong sometimes.”

Another authority figure in these stories is Owl. “And if anyone knows anything about anything,” says Pooh, “it’s Owl who knows something about something.” Owl is a thoroughly loveable character precisely because he’s so sure he’s right when in fact he is the farthest thing from it.

So don’t always trust the authority figures in your life, including the ones in the board room of your own mind. Learn to be just curious enough to wonder about what they’re saying.

It is fun, not to mention useful, to step back from the books we’re reading to notice and articulate the lessons we’re learning from them. What are you learning from what you’re reading?

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