You have seen “The Wizard of Oz”, haven’t you?
Like at least once or twice?
Or are you at least familiar with the story?
A girl is magically transported to another land where she teams up with a group of misfits in order for all of them to find the mythical and all-powerful Wizard who has the ability to give each of them their heart’s desire?
Sound about right?
Okay, that’s my interpretation anyway.
I love the story and I find that as I get older, it becomes more meaningful.
How come?
Maybe it’s because we all get smarter as we get older, maybe it’s because my mind is more open now than it was when I was younger, maybe I just “get it” now.
We all have a group of misfits in our lives. You know, that group of people that you travel day by day, month by month, year by year with- sometimes you call them “family”, “friends”, or “soul mates”?
We all also have something that we want and that we want badly- that is our heart’s desire.
Maybe you’re like Dorothy and you just want a home or “your” home, a place where you belong?
Maybe you’re like the Scarecrow and you’re looking for some brains, for some education, for some higher knowledge of some sort?
Or maybe you’re more the Tin Man type looking for your heart, your compassion or passion?
Perhaps you resonate most with the Cowardly Lion? You’re looking for something, anything that will make you braver, more open to taking risks or conquering your fears?
Or maybe, just maybe, you’re most like the Wizard himself. Maybe you find yourself hiding behind a curtain of your own doing, pulling the levers and pushing the buttons just so that you can keep up appearances and maintain the status quo while really wanting for something more?
(Can you tell I’m a fan?)
Do you remember the end?
Of course everyone gets what they really want. The “Wizard” makes sure of that.
But how do they get their heart’s desire?
Does the Wizard go into his bag of magical tricks and pull out hand-wrapped presents of home, brains, heart and courage?
Yes and no.
He gives them the gifts of awareness, permission and then awareness again.
First he helps to open their eyes- that by being on the journey, they already have the gifts that they had desired. By doing something different, by living their lives and experiencing challenge and struggle, they have grown into their heart’s desire. They were shown that they had given themselves the gift and not that the Wizard had to gift them.
He then gives them the gift of permission. He “allows” them to fully own their heart’s desire and embrace it. It is only through the Wizard, or so they believe, that they can finally be, do or have that thing that they want.
Finally he gives them a second dose of awareness. Not only did they already possess these gifts, but they have had them the whole time and all they had to do was to step up and claim them. He tells them that he was never really needed, they only thought that someone else had the control over the “when, where and if” they ever received their heart’s desire.
What does this mean to you?
It means that right now there is a chance that you are suffering from the “Wizard of Oz” syndrome.
It could be with your health, with your career, with your family or with something that is so audacious that you’re afraid to even mention it, let alone think of it.
You are waiting for someone else to give you what you really want when all you need to know is that you already have it.
That thing is already here, you already have it in your possession, you just need to take ownership of it.
Everything you need, you already have.
But you think that you need someone else’s permission to get it.
Maybe the Wizard is your boss, your spouse, your parent, your sibling, your child, or even your best friend.
Why are you giving your power to someone else? Why are you looking for someone else to say, “Oh yeah, it’s okay. Go ahead, you can have it. I give you my permission.”
You don’t.
You never had and you never will.
You have everything that you need already inside of you. You just need to claim it.
Go on, do it.
Give yourself the permission to own your life and to own what it is that you really want.
It’s already yours.
