What makes your lion roar?
I finally made it to the Lion King show at The Lyceum at the weekend. It’s one show I ‘ve always wanted to see and it certainly exceeded my expectations in terms of cast, music,story line and humongous giant giraffes!!
The irony here is that I lived in London for just over 4 years and all that time never made the effort to get myself there. Perhaps timing is everything because now I ‘m wide awake to laugh at and understand the profound wisdom and self development the story teaches us.
Its an inspiring tale about overcoming adversity and about respecting the world that we inhabit.
Simba is only young when he witnesses his father’s death, the Lion King, a life-changing event and he is tricked into believing it is his fault by his evil uncle Scar. He flees to the jungle and a new life of worthless luxury and ‘no worries’ finally coming to his senses, to facing his responsibility by returning home to claim his rightful destiny and true nature.
It is a complex plot packed full of metaphors about real life, psychological development , empowerment and spiritual growth.
Here are the most potent self development/personal growth lessons.
Lesson 1. Good against evil.
Ok so this exists in all the classic stories throughout the ages strengthening, therefore, the certainty that love always conquers all and wins through in the end. It is the natural cycle of life that to live in balance, peace, harmony and abundance we need to live with hope, enthusiasm and full of love and we need to be our real selves, that place where human nature is all loving and kind which builds strength to overcome anything. This story , however, depicts the central character Simba as not perfect but flawed like the rest of us. He must discover his gifts and his courage through experience, failure, pain and self understanding.
Lesson 2. A lesson in power.
Musafa’s character illustrates to us the wisdom and maturity that comes with age and the responsibility of living a purposeful life. He is commanding but at the same time has a generous heart and possesses a deep understanding of the forces that make the Pridelands balanced and healthy. This brings courage and the right pursuit of power as opposed to his brothers character, Scar, who is consumed with jealousy and self aggrandisement. Scar, the ultimate shape shifter, demonstrates perfectly that this type of ruthless power when unchecked corrupts and destroys everything in its wake and contaminates the environment as well.
Lesson 3. We all have a life or soul purpose.
Simba’s purpose is to fulfill his destiny and rule as King over the Pridelands as the real and true heir but first he must overcome his guilt and his past to do so. I believe that so many people are playing it small and not thriving in life because they are so held back or heavy from past memories.
Do you let your past guilt and regret keep you from realising your full potential in life and fulfilling that yearning desire in your heart?
Do you drown out that inner voice with permanent busyness and self limiting beliefs?
Lesson 4. Recapturing the innocence of youth.
As a young cub, Simba is rowdy and independent who loves to play , be adventuresome and curious. Whilst curiosity does eventually lead him into trouble without it he would have never discovered the many lessons he learns on his personal development journey. We all need to take risks and nurture our childlike curiosity if we want to grow and evolve and experience the most that life has to offer us.
Lesson 5. Confront your past don’t run away from it.
Victory is secured once Simba finally faces up to his past and confronts Scar. We can choose to run from what we fear or we can face it head on and expand as a result. That means we’ve got to be prepared to confront our demons and deal with our guilt so we can stop feeling guilty about what we have or haven’t done and then we can direct all our energy into the present moment so we can live a better future . Better still we can help others to do so.
If you take one thing away from this post then let it be this. Do yourself a favour and leave the past behind so you can be all you’re supposed to me, brilliant, purposeful, courageous and unique!
Lesson 6. There is a more powerful invisible world.
Life is far more than what we know of through our 5 senses. That is the realm of spirit where ancestors and guides are always available to support us and advice us if we choose to acknowledge and tap into them. This is a lesson in spiritual growth. We can choose to make life more difficult for ourselves by repeating the same old patterns and living in our heads all the time, trying to control people, events and our circumstances or we can learn to let go and tune in to receive inspiration, wisdom and creativity.
Lesson 7. We are all connected.
Everything we do impacts everything else and we know this in our hearts. The circle of life teaches us that we live together in delicate balance with everything around us, our planet, the eco-system,animals and other individuals. It is our choice and we can choose to protect, nourish and sustain our environment for future generations or we can destroy it by taking too much due to greed, selfishness and carelessness.
Everything we put out into the world comes back to us so we must make sure our contributions are positive ones.
Lesson 8. We are eternal beings.
Simba, through Rafiki, is able to hear the voice of his father to provide the wisdom and encouragement that he needs to fulfill his destiny. Mufasa tells his son ‘the stars live in you’. As we age our physical bodies wither and die but the soul is eternal and lives on. We are all actually spiritual beings in a physical body.
Interestingly when we observe a lion in nature we can detect an easy strength and natural dignity.The lion is born powerful and power comes naturally to it.
A lion paces in every human heart. What quickens yours?
What makes your lion roar?
Drop me a comment and let me know and if you’ve enjoyed it please pass this wisdom on.
I`ve always loved the lion king and am looking forward to watching it with my kids as soon as they are old enough. Your post however may have me watching it again before then lol. Thank you for the pointing out the true lessons.
Best,
Dorothy
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