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!