What we can learn from the Lion about Courage

I watched The Wizard of Oz with my family last weekend. I remember watching it with my sisters when I was a little kid. It’s a classic and still has lessons in it that can be put to use in today’s world.

Do you remember the Lion and how scared he was of his own shadow? When the group finally made it back to the Wizard to prove the Wicked Witch was gone, the Lion sought courage in return for their achievement.

Actually, the Scare Crow demanded it when they discovered the Great and Powerful Oz was merely a person behind a curtain. Oz wasn’t more powerful or smarter than anyone else, but he knew how to look at things in a different way.

The Lion had courage all along. He just didn’t believe it or in himself.  He was told that he was a “victim of disorganized thinking” by the Wizard.

The Lion was confusing his courage with wisdom. The knowledge of what is true or right (wisdom) and the quality of mind or spirit (courage) that enabled him to take action.

So why do we need courage?

We take courageous steps each and every day. It takes courage to do the little things we know are right or what gets us a step closer to a goal. It takes courage to speak up when you feel something needs to be said. It takes courage to know you are doing the right thing.

It takes courage to:

• Make a change in your life
• Take on a new project
• Say no to a request that will make you feel overwhelmed
• Blog
• Learn something new
• Take on a challenge
• Make a career change
• Enjoy me time by yourself, with a friend or with your partner
• Be you, to love you and to acknowledge the wisdom that guides you to take the next step

That all takes courage.

“Courage is not the absence of fear,

but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.”

~ Ambrose Redmoon

 Maybe like the Lion we need a reminder once in a while that we have the courage and the wisdom to achieve our goals, hopes or desires. Just like the Wizard told the Lion, it’s already there.