The Wizard of Oz and Us


imageThis childhood fairy tale holds so much truth for you if you open your heart to see it.  It is wonderful for children to learn at very young age not to search for happiness outside of themselves. As adults, we continuously search for fulfillment outside of ourselves.  Some of us feel inadequate.  We hear voices that go back sometimes as far as our childhood that tell us we are not good enough. Some parents have even told their children they don’t have brains or they are not smart enough.  This type of attack on a child’s psyche has lasting effects.

Dorothy (in The Wizard of Oz) just wanted to find her way home and was told to follow the yellow brick road.  Along this road she encounters a scarecrow who believes he doesn’t have a brain, a tin man who believes he doesn’t have a heart and a cowardly lion who wanted courage.  The four set off to find the wizard.  The wizard represents our leaders.  He has all the answers and can fix whatever the problem may be.  The wizard tells them just what they want to hear.  All you have to do is what I tell you to do and you can then have everything you want.  Sound familiar.

In life we always go to our leaders and ask how can we make our lives better.  Just as the wizard did, our leaders will give us a list of things we must do in order for our lives to improve.   How can one list apply to everyone?  People are on different paths.  We may have some similarities, but you cannot group people like that.  Everyone’s coping skills are different.  If that set of skills is different, then the outcome of each situation will be different.

After finding that the wizard was just like them, they became upset. The wizard told them what you are looking for you only have to look inside yourself to find it.  He also told Dorothy she always had the power to go home.  The lesson for all of us is to not look outside ourselves or to someone for the answers we seek for our lives.  Look only inside yourself.  You hold the key to your happiness.  Just like Dorothy, you have had the power all of the time to make yourself happy.