The Pre-Birth Plan of The Fonz

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Henry Winkler speak. For those unfamiliar with the name, Winkler played Arthur Fonzarelli (aka “The Fonz”) in the popular television show Happy Days, which was on the air here in the U.S. in the 1970s and 80s. Since then Winkler has gone on to star in, direct, and produce a variety of successful television shows and films.

Winkler spoke poignantly of his academic struggles early in life, when dyslexia made it difficult for him to learn. His parents, German immigrants, repeatedly called him dummer hund (dumb dog). Not surprisingly, he grew up believing he was stupid.

Although he’s experienced extraordinary success in television and film, Winkler said that his greatest accomplishment is a series of best-selling children’s books about Hank Zipzer, a fictional boy who also has dyslexia. With titles like Everybody is Somebody, the books have inspired countless children to believe in and value themselves and countless parents to believe in and value their children – regardless of their level of academic success.

As I listened to Winkler speak, it became clear to me that he had beautifully and magnificently fulfilled his pre-birth plan. Before we are born, each of us chooses a mission, some area of life on Earth that is important to us and in which we want to make a positive impact. I envisioned Winkler in his pre-birth planning session telling his guides, “I want to empower children who have learning disabilities. I want to help these children – and all children – know their inherent worth. And I want to help their parents know it, too.”

Having selected that mission, Winkler would then have planned to enter the very vibration he so wanted to change. Service to others – which is part of literally every pre-birth plan I have ever examined – is particularly powerful when we ourselves enter and experience a certain vibration and then transform it from within. I could hear Winkler’s guides saying, “One possibility is for you to have dyslexia and parents who shame you for it. If you can rise above the vibration of shame and come to know your worth, you will then offer that higher vibration, that wisdom, to others.”

At that point, Winkler would have gone to the two souls he wanted to be his parents and asked them to be part of his plan. “I want to empower and uplift children who have learning disabilities and their parents. I choose to experience dyslexia, as it will give me the opportunity and motivation to accomplish my mission. I ask that you shame me as a child for my inability to learn. My intention is to rise above the shame, heal it within myself, and then find an inspiring way to offer such healing and upliftment to others.”

The two souls approached by Winkler would likely be souls with whom he had shared many incarnations and with whom there was already great love. I could hear them responding, “Though it will be difficult for us, out of our great love for you we will play this role. We will speak the words that will drive you within, where you will discover your value as an expression of the Divine. We love you, and we agree to play the role you have requested.”

Winkler ended his talk by saying, “Thank you for listening to me, because my parents never did.” I suspect that his very natural and understandable human perspective will be replaced by a very different one when he returns to the other side and remembers just how well his parents did listen to him.