In a distant time, in a distant land when kings ruled and witches brewed there lived a beautiful young woman trapped in a tower. This girl had to brush and brush and brush and brush and brush her hair wondering when will her life begin. And yes…this girl’s name was Rapunzel. One day a young man broke Rapunzel out of the tower. She quickly found herself in a bar amongst the ruffians and thugs that she had been warned about by her supposed mother.
Much to her surprise, these ruffians and thugs weren’t who they appeared to be and had a dream. Their dream was to stop hiding who they were inside. Their dream was to be transparent with their deepest desires to become a florist, interior designer, mime, baker, seamstress, and puppeteer. They wanted to free themselves of the stereotype that society had put on them and not feel limited in their actions, words, and behavior. They had a dream; a dream to be their real selves in all times, in all things, and in all places.
Many of us are like the ruffians and thugs described in this Disney Classic. We put on a facade of who others want or expect us to be. The reasons for this are many (most driven by fear). We may fear that others will not like what they see or others may be offended with who we are or we will be misunderstood and ridiculed or not live up to others’ expectation. The list of fears continues; further deepening our dependence on our cover. The downside of this seemingly safe and conservative approach is that we rarely, if ever, feel free to be who we truly are. Such imprisonment causes one to feel disconnected from life and dependent on external sources for escape to numb the effects of our daily living.
How do we live our dream and be our true selves? First, we need to know who we are. Many of us know who we are not because we feel the effects of our falsehood in our daily living. Discovering who we are is a matter of focused introspection simply done through the value assessment worksheet. Once we identify our core values we then need to have the discipline and courage to make the life adjustments that allow us to fully live. Fully living is fully immersing ourselves into what is most important to us. This will take time as we have developed strong avoidance habits that anchor our facade. As we slowly align our actions with our values a sense of freedom sprouts and hope is restored. We recognize that the degree to which we live our values is the degree to which our freedom is felt.
Ask yourself if you are living the dream and being the very best, most happiest you. If you are not then start now to discover your core values and start living them. Living a dream is hard work but is so worth it. It is a journey and we should have joy in it. Once value alignment starts to occur fulfillment, peace and happiness are the inevitable fruits.
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