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Nate Shelley & the Danger of Self-Loathing
“Hurt people hurt people.”
– Yehuda Berg
Have you watched the TV show, “Ted Lasso?”
If not, I highly recommend it.
Since a great deal has already been written about the show, I am focusing this blog on the Nate Shelley character…and what he can teach us about the danger of self-loathing.
Before I get to Nate, here’s a snapshot of the “Ted Lasso” show:
Ted Lasso is an American college football coach who is hired to coach an English soccer team, in an attempt by the team owner to spite her cheating ex-husband. Lasso, however, has absolutely no experience coaching soccer…which is precisely the point. The team owner wants Ted to fail, so that her ex-husband’s beloved team fails. Ted, of course, doesn’t know this.
I suspect one of the reasons the “Ted Lasso” show is so popular is because Ted Lasso is an awesome guy! Ted (played brilliantly by Jason Sudeikis, who is also one of the show’s co-creators) is sweet, kind, funny, considerate, compassionate, a little geeky and a lot humble.
Not much phases Ted — at least not for long. He’s like a Timex watch…takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’. Ted is beyond positive…and genuinely believes in the goodness and potential of others. If we could clone Ted, the world would be a significantly better place. Alas, we’ll just have to hope/ensure that some of Ted’s positivity, enthusiasm, faith, and vulnerability rubs off on some of us.
The Nate Shelley character (played beautifully by Nick Mohammed) is also sweet, kind, and humble…at least, he starts out that way. At the beginning of the show, Nate is the team’s kit man (towel boy) and suffers from a serious lack of self-confidence. As such, he is pretty much invisible to everyone around him — until Coach Lasso shows up on scene and acknowledges Nate’s existence…
