06/06/2014
The Lesson of the Cowardly Lion
Let go of your Ego?
Hmmmmm. Give it some thought before you discard it entirely.
We have all seen the Wizard of Oz, a child's story? Perhaps. Yet, this classic tale is precisely that because it contains fabulous metaphors and life lessons amid its colorful characters and portentous villains and fickle seats of power.
Within all lies The Cowardly Lion.
Given the gift of being the ultimate Leo, one of the most cherished characters from the spiritually rich story of The Wizard of Oz, has somehow learned to deny his true nature, his greatest asset: his own raw and revealing Ego.
The Cowardly Lion, blusters and brags, pushes and prods the seemingly lesser species around, then cowers in the corner at the slightest recrimination. Ego in its rawest form? To some, but to me it is simply an example of his miss-use of the most potent "weapon" the Universe has bestowed upon us.
The Ego has been much maligned throughout the history of modern psychology and yes, even in the seemingly open-minded world of self-help gurus and wordsmiths. Demonized as the false image, a faux idea of one's self, the thin veneer hiding the real depth and resources of the soul...
I think the Ego needs a bit of rethinking, a retooling, perhaps, dare I say: a new sterling placement in the hierarchy of our being.
The Cowardly Lion does not know himself, does not realize his impact, is unsure how to manage his self- image: the perception of power, regal elegance and yes, the fear he can stir in those that see themselves lacking such perceived sterling facets. This fear is reflected in his immediate impact and yes, becomes ingrained in the fiber of his very being.
Our Cowardly Lion is so out of touch with his Ego, that it becomes a weapon of guilt-riddled mass destruction instead of the sterling sword, sheathed by his side at the ready.
Many of us have been taught to sublimate our desires, our needs and our basic instincts in a morass of self-abuse, ersatz moralizing and that old dagger in the heart: Doubt. An untrained, under-appreciated and miss-used Ego -- can cut a swath through our fellow man's cunning and duplicity (and our own) -- but leave a trail of dysfunction and confusion in its wake.
A well focused, understood and properly trained, somewhat restrained Ego can be a selective tool of probity and grace.
See your Ego as the highest, most visible "point" of your being, know that once controlled, focused and channeled great works and goals can be attained. Mother Theresa had an Ego, as did Frank Lloyd Wright and Adrian Zmed (eh, Dance Fever, T.J. Ho**er, hello...).
Turn your needy egos inside out, fill that need with giving, with laughter with COURAGE. All that wonderful stuff of your soul, all that knowledge and potential must be filtered through a set of controls, a regulator, so to speak -- the vainglorious, potent and productive Ego!
The Wizard gave nothing to the Cowardly Lion except a Medal; the Medal helped the Lion see the productive uses for his Ego, how it compared to those who have done far less and have been rewarded for it and yes, for being probably the most sterling example of what you can take away, spiritually, from the Wizard of Oz.
