Queen Rania
Lessons From a Queen Lesson One: Learn to Love the Old and the New
It wasn't long before Rania was invited to meet her future father-in-law. "In a situation like this, you have to wait for him to make the first move because he was who he was and I just didn't want to make any assumptions," said Rania.
When King Hussein first invited her for lunch, Rania expected something very formal like a banquet. But when the two did meet it was much more casual -- falafel sandwiches from a takeout joint.
"There was no protocol, no pretense," she said. "That was an important lesson because we have to show up in our lives as ourselves no matter what roles we play or what title we carry."
She has passed this lesson on to her children.
Lesson Two: Everything Has Its Time
Rania's guidance is not like other parents in every way -- she must explain to her son all that comes with being a king. It's a conversation she has yet to have with him.
"He's 13," said Rania. "He's more interested in how to get his hair cut and what movie he's going to watch. Those issues are way above and beyond him, and I wouldn't want to burden him with anything about that. It's just not fair."
Lesson Three: Even Queens Suffer From Guilt
Rania like most women around the world, she suffers from feelings of guilt. "Sometimes we're very hard on ourselves," she said. "We don't cut ourselves enough slack."
"We expect to be great mothers and great wives and great career women and try constantly to achieve this balance in our lives, and it's amazing how much we have in common."
But aiming for perfectionism isn't the goal, Rania said.
"Once I realized that, I started to just be a little kinder to myself. To say to myself that, you know, sometimes I won't be able to do this. "
Rania said she is a strong believer that women can bridge the divide between cultures. For example, when terrorists attacked her country, she immediately went to the hospitals to visit the injured.
Queen Rania said that
It wasn't long before Rania was invited to meet her future father-in-law. "In a situation like this, you have to wait for him to make the first move because he was who he was and I just didn't want to make any assumptions," said Rania.
When King Hussein first invited her for lunch, Rania expected something very formal like a banquet. But when the two did meet it was much more casual -- falafel sandwiches from a takeout joint.
"There was no protocol, no pretense," she said. "That was an important lesson because we have to show up in our lives as ourselves no matter what roles we play or what title we carry."
She has passed this lesson on to her children.
Lesson Two: Everything Has Its Time
Rania's guidance is not like other parents in every way -- she must explain to her son all that comes with being a king. It's a conversation she has yet to have with him.
"He's 13," said Rania. "He's more interested in how to get his hair cut and what movie he's going to watch. Those issues are way above and beyond him, and I wouldn't want to burden him with anything about that. It's just not fair."
Lesson Three: Even Queens Suffer From Guilt
Rania like most women around the world, she suffers from feelings of guilt. "Sometimes we're very hard on ourselves," she said. "We don't cut ourselves enough slack."
"We expect to be great mothers and great wives and great career women and try constantly to achieve this balance in our lives, and it's amazing how much we have in common."
But aiming for perfectionism isn't the goal, Rania said.
"Once I realized that, I started to just be a little kinder to myself. To say to myself that, you know, sometimes I won't be able to do this. "
Rania said she is a strong believer that women can bridge the divide between cultures. For example, when terrorists attacked her country, she immediately went to the hospitals to visit the injured.
Queen Rania said that