One of my favourite children's books of all time was With You All The Way by Max Lucado. The story is about three knights who are chosen by the King for a competition. These nights are travel to the King's castle by way of the forest, and whoever makes it back first will have the princess as his bride. Now each of these knights are chosen because they are the best within their specific field of specialty. The first is the strongest of all the knights of the kingdom, the second is the swiftest, and the third, well he's the wisest.
When I first heard the story up to this point, I wasn't all that intrigued. I mean, what's so bad about traveling through a forest? But the story explains that the forest is home to the dreaded hopenots and their task is to make it through their territory alive. Each one is allowed to take with them one companion to travel with them, and the Prince explains that every day at dawn, midday, and dusk the King will play a tune on his flute which is twin to one the prince has. So they go out on their travels and one day the sentries see two men limping towards the castle from the forest. The King commands that a feast be prepared and then rushes the two men out of sight to only have the winning knight revealed at the feast. Some place bets that the strongest knight has returned, others are sure it's the swiftest, but it turns out to be the wisest. When asked how he made it through he explained that it was because he chose the right companion. He explained that the hopenots stole their horses and were fighting them at every opportunity. But the worst part was when the King played his flute because all the hopenots would imitate the sound. They would hear not one flute but thousands, and from all directions. The eager townspeople asked how on earth he made it through that. The knight reiterated that he chose the right companion, he chose the Prince. Since the Prince had the twin to the flute that the King had, they only were able to play the tune in the same manner. As they traveled the knight had the Prince play the tune until he had committed it to memory. And because of that he was able to pick out the sound of the King's flute above all the imitations.
I love that story and the direct implications it has for our lives. We, like the knights, are going to have a lot of distractions in this life. There will be many imitators trying their best to lead us off the path that will lead us back to our Heavenly King, but if we have the Prince as our companion we will be able to make it through safely. But despite this amazing message one thing always nagged at the back of my mind, what about the knights that came second? Did they not even qualify?
Now I should probably explain myself a little bit to help you understand that nagging question. Growing up I was a pretty well rounded kid. I excelled in the academics, I was extremely involved in sports, and I was good at all the arts. There really wasn't all that much that I wasn't good at. Now I don't say that to brag, just to help you understand. You see, even though I was good at all those things I never ended up being the best. I would play basket ball, but never made the MVP. I sang in would work so hard on my final project of the year, someone else would do it last minute and get a better grade than I. I'd get hundreds of compliments about the picture I submitted for a competition, but someone else's was chosen. It was great being good at all those things, but I would sometimes wish that I could just be the best at something. And so, because of this situation I was in the question haunted me, what about the knights that weren't quite the best?
Then I got in a car accident. As I've mentioned in one or two of my previous posts, I sustained a sever brain injury and my life changed, including the situation I was in. My brain injury was on the right side of my head, which, as you may know, has direct connections with artistic and more creative tendencies. As a result my talents in the arts went from great but not the best to okay. My injury also made it so I can't remember things as well as I used to so I have to work a lot harder to get marks that are lower than I've ever seen in my life. And as for the athletic abilities, they're still sort of there if I don't mind a migraine. Every time I physically exert myself now I end up with a splitting head ache. So now I don't really have to worry about being good but not the best.
Now I'm sure that a lot of you reading this are feeling really sorry for me right now, but that is not what I'm writing about. Sure there are times where the situation sucks, but that's only some of the time. As I reflect on these two different perspectives I've had there's so much that I've learned. Whether your best at something, second, or the thousandth best you really are still that, the best. Too often we fall into the trap of thinking that what we do and how well we do at it is what defines who we are, and some people who hire you for a job may agree with that perspective but I've learned that they're wrong. I'm no longer in the top ten when it comes to marks, nor am I any kind of competition when it comes to comparing art, and I rarely even play sports anymore. But despite those changes about what I do, I'm still the best at being me. I didn't change who I am in the truest sense despite those changes in what I do.
So, even though I may not make it as the strongest knight, or the swiftest, and I don't think I even make it on the scales for the wisest, when someone asks me what I'm really good at I still have an answer. I'm really good, in fact I'm the best at being me. And you're the best at being you! Remember that.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Courageous
Have you ever seen the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty? I remember seeing it once or twice when I was growing up, and I always thought that of all the Disney Princess movies that was actually a pretty good one. I mean, it's always been classified as "girl's movie", and I understand why, but there's also a strong case for placing it in the category of "boy's movies".
The entire story, in the movie, is portrayed to highlight the experience of Aurora, the princess. We are shown her birth, the gifts that three fairies bestow upon her, and the curse that is given to her by the antagonist of the story. We are then made privy to her life in the woods as the three fairies do their very best to ensure that the curse is unable to come to fruition. However, the fairies fail in their efforts and Aurora is placed in a deep sleep where she remains until she is saved by a prince whose kiss awakens her, breaking the spell. It's the classic love story which is really emphasized throughout the movie. But what if we take a look at this movie from another character's perspective?
I'm talking about the hero of this picture, Prince Phillip. When the story is looked at from his perspective this movie is definitely a "boy's movie". Here we have a beautiful girl who the Prince falls in love with. She is then placed under a malevolent spell and placed in a castle that is surrounded by deadly hedges and guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. To fully see the story for all it's worth, let's take the romance out of the picture. Here we have a man. His goal is to find his way through a dense, perilous tangle of hedges with thorns the size of his hands. He then has to find his way through a castle, that is eerily empty, in order for him to achieve this goal. And throughout these travels he needs to make sure that he doesn't get killed by a murderous, bloodthirsty, fire-breathing dragon! Talk about an engrossing plot! Then, to show just how amazing this Prince Phillip really is, he pulls it off without a backward glance. It's as if he assesses the situation, sees the danger, and then asks, is that all? He just heads right in there without any fears and comes out on top!
As a kid, I remember watching Sleeping Beauty, and I definitely remember seeing it as described from the second perspective! In my eyes Prince Phillip was the epitome of bravery, and courage. Back then I saw courage as being the absence of fear. It was the word to describe Prince Phillip's attitude when he looked at the deathly odds before him and calmly thought, is that all? To me that was what courage was, and I wanted to be exactly like him!
As I look back at this view of courage, I think I had it a little bit wrong. Now that I've grown up a bit, and seen a bit more than just Disney movies I've come to understand courage a little bit better. I recently bought the TV series Band of Brothers. Now there's courage! These men who were a part of Easy Company are, in my opinion, true examples of what courage really is. They too were up against impossible odds, but it wasn't just once but time and time again. They too had a goal, it was to have a peaceful home. There were hedges for them just like in the movie, like parachuting out of a plain while anti-aircraft weaponry was being shot at you from way too many directions. And just like Prince Phillip, they too had to face their dragon, but for them it was the German army. They looked at these deathly odds, they assessed their situation, and they were scared. They were so scared that some men's fears drove them insane and others viewed themselves as already being dead. Never did they ask if that was all? Never did they go forward without fear? No, they looked at the situation, recognized their fears, and they went on anyways!
In life things are going to frighten us, even to the point of overcoming us for a short time. That fear does not mean that we don't have courage, nor that we are any less brave than Prince Phillip was. It is what we do after we assess the situation and recognize our fears that determines what attributes we portray. In my mind true courage is going forward in the face of fear, even if that fear cannot be conquered, even if those fears will haunt you for the rest of your life. Courage is steadily going forward no matter what!
The entire story, in the movie, is portrayed to highlight the experience of Aurora, the princess. We are shown her birth, the gifts that three fairies bestow upon her, and the curse that is given to her by the antagonist of the story. We are then made privy to her life in the woods as the three fairies do their very best to ensure that the curse is unable to come to fruition. However, the fairies fail in their efforts and Aurora is placed in a deep sleep where she remains until she is saved by a prince whose kiss awakens her, breaking the spell. It's the classic love story which is really emphasized throughout the movie. But what if we take a look at this movie from another character's perspective?
I'm talking about the hero of this picture, Prince Phillip. When the story is looked at from his perspective this movie is definitely a "boy's movie". Here we have a beautiful girl who the Prince falls in love with. She is then placed under a malevolent spell and placed in a castle that is surrounded by deadly hedges and guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. To fully see the story for all it's worth, let's take the romance out of the picture. Here we have a man. His goal is to find his way through a dense, perilous tangle of hedges with thorns the size of his hands. He then has to find his way through a castle, that is eerily empty, in order for him to achieve this goal. And throughout these travels he needs to make sure that he doesn't get killed by a murderous, bloodthirsty, fire-breathing dragon! Talk about an engrossing plot! Then, to show just how amazing this Prince Phillip really is, he pulls it off without a backward glance. It's as if he assesses the situation, sees the danger, and then asks, is that all? He just heads right in there without any fears and comes out on top!
As a kid, I remember watching Sleeping Beauty, and I definitely remember seeing it as described from the second perspective! In my eyes Prince Phillip was the epitome of bravery, and courage. Back then I saw courage as being the absence of fear. It was the word to describe Prince Phillip's attitude when he looked at the deathly odds before him and calmly thought, is that all? To me that was what courage was, and I wanted to be exactly like him!
As I look back at this view of courage, I think I had it a little bit wrong. Now that I've grown up a bit, and seen a bit more than just Disney movies I've come to understand courage a little bit better. I recently bought the TV series Band of Brothers. Now there's courage! These men who were a part of Easy Company are, in my opinion, true examples of what courage really is. They too were up against impossible odds, but it wasn't just once but time and time again. They too had a goal, it was to have a peaceful home. There were hedges for them just like in the movie, like parachuting out of a plain while anti-aircraft weaponry was being shot at you from way too many directions. And just like Prince Phillip, they too had to face their dragon, but for them it was the German army. They looked at these deathly odds, they assessed their situation, and they were scared. They were so scared that some men's fears drove them insane and others viewed themselves as already being dead. Never did they ask if that was all? Never did they go forward without fear? No, they looked at the situation, recognized their fears, and they went on anyways!
In life things are going to frighten us, even to the point of overcoming us for a short time. That fear does not mean that we don't have courage, nor that we are any less brave than Prince Phillip was. It is what we do after we assess the situation and recognize our fears that determines what attributes we portray. In my mind true courage is going forward in the face of fear, even if that fear cannot be conquered, even if those fears will haunt you for the rest of your life. Courage is steadily going forward no matter what!
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