When I think of courage, valor and strength, I think of The Lord of the Rings. Those films have some of the most epic battle scenes I have ever seen.
As a kid, I wanted to be just like Legolas, sliding down the stairs in a makeshift shield while firing Nerf arrows at imaginary orcs in my living room.
As an adult, I don't practice as much imaginary orc hunting as I used to. But I think there are lessons we can learn from those stories that still apply to us today. One of those lessons has to do with what it means to be strong and courageous.
There are a couple of scenes in the movies where evil armies attack walled cities. The armies of men have a choice to make. They can either hide behind the city walls, or they can come out from behind the walls and engage the enemy. For most of us today, we don't hide behind actual city walls. But we still choose to hide.
We hide behind walls of perfectly curated Instagram feeds, walls of impenetrable fake confidence, or walls of convincing everyone around us that we have our stuff together.
I think this is especially true for those of us that lead people, whether we are leading teams at work or families at home.
If you think about it, when you are hiding behind a wall, who is being strong? You or the wall?
I think this is something that the Lord of the Rings movies do an excellent job of illustrating. We don't typically think of revealing our soft side to the enemy as a show of strength. But in reality, that's exactly what it is. That's precisely what Legolas and Gimli did when they walked outside the city wall to engage the enemy. They made themselves vulnerable. They revealed themselves, knowing that they were opening themselves up to being hurt. In fact, vulnerability is what made it an act of courage.
For most of us, we are faced with a similar choice. We can choose to hide behind the walls we create, or we can choose to make ourselves vulnerable. Stepping out from behind the wall and revealing our softer side isn't being weak. It is an act of courage.
And for most us, it is the only way of moving the story forward.
Eric McClerren, LAPC
emcclerren@growcounseling.com