If I were The Wizard of Oz for one day and I could hold
court with all the troubled souls coming in and out of the Emerald City…oh what
a day that would be.
Beginning with children, from all walks of life, all
suffering from the same affliction…”know-it-all-ness.” It’s the first sign of a healthy, confident
individual coming of age and also a curse to those on the fringe, struggling to
find their way.
At this juncture, I give you the Cowardly Lion as a
metaphor. Throughout Dorothy’s journey
in Oz, he was her faithful companion, following her in the hopes of finding
courage.
I would suggest that from the very beginning, the Lion
represented a child. Impetuous,
unpredictable, and full of energy and potential not yet channeled.
It doesn’t matter how I arrived at this realization or who
I’m writing about. Because what I say
could apply to just about any kid in the middle of growing up while trying to
navigate the swift changes coming from every direction.
But I very much see this individual as more uncommon than
common, with a penchant for having more depth of thought and raw emotion than
that of his counterparts of similar age.
The very extraordinary gifts he has been blessed with are what make him
both unique and different. In time,
unique gifts will be fully realized potential and the path will be a roadmap
that clearly shows him why it was worth the journey. But it doesn’t work in reverse.
Time is a funny thing.
Because in the meantime, the differentness is what makes this child’s
life less bright as an old soul in a bright world waits for his peers to catch
up with his depth of expression and emotion.
To catch up to the wonderment of the world he sees in each and every
thing in life. To curiously question new
inventions, boldly express thoughts. And
no, his differentness is not his friend as he continues to grow during what
we’ve all been told are the “best years of our life”.
As parents, we try to help guide the way, raise them up when
there are bumps in the road…and listen seeking to understand.
We see the world as it is…big, full of life, unlimited
potential and opportunities. But our
children, they already know it all. That
is to say they truly do know it all…as much as they can know a day before the
next day of knowing, living in a smaller world of a small classroom, in a neighborhood
school. It’s all they know and sometimes
the knowing is not enough.
The big picture comes later, past traditional learning. It begins with the first step they take
outside the line and make a conscious choice to be different. It’s empowering, exhilarating and terrifying
all at once. But once you realize that
the whole world is made up of people just like you and completely different all
at once, you realize you’re not so different so much as you are someone gifted
with a spirit destined to do more.
So back at Emerald City, where I am counseling kids and
thinking about that Cowardly Lion, I think my final thought is this. Our job is to give kids courage to keep
going, keep trying…after failures and after successes. We do it through words, actions, however we uniquely
show love and support.
But at the end of the day, the one thing they desperately
need the most…what we possess and can’t give them. It’s perspective. And it can’t be bought or given by someone
else. It can’t be taught in a classroom. It happens every second of every day we
live. And our kids are on that path to
perspective, but it’s going to take some time before they can see for their own
eyes, what we want them to know when we already said they know everything they
can right now. Maybe kids are supposed
to be know it alls and as they grow, just like the Cowardly Lion, they earn
their stripes…get their courage…find the perspective we wanted to give them,
not realizing it has to be earned. In a
heartbeat, like everything else, I would give it to you, my son. But this one must be earned and you’ll be
wiser for it as you move a little further down your journey. Truth be told, I know it all now too…until
tomorrow, when I’ll have just a little more perspective. Live in love, with a hunger for knowledge,
and the courage of a lion’s heart. And
never, never, stop. And you will learn
just like you, perspective is uniquely owned and valued and when you get it, no
one can take it away from you. And with
it, you’ll find the courage to do even more.
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