Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and Personal Responsibility Part 2
May 1, 2008 | In Lessons on Self Improvement | No Comments »
Table of contents for Labyrinth Lessons
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and The Power of Friendship Part 1
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and The Power of Friendship Part 2
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and Personal Responsibility Part 1
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and Personal Responsibility Part 2
Yesterday,
I presented the first 3 of 6 lessons from Labyrinth on personal responsibility. Today, I present the final 3.
When we last left Sarah, she had faced off against Jareth, the Goblin King, and had learned a lesson about fairness while having time taken away. Sarah will have to learn a few more things before she meets Jareth for the final time.
4. Don’t keep moving in the wrong direction just because it’s the way you’re pointing. Deep in the labyrinth, Sarah comes to a set of doors that she must solve a puzzle to get through. She solves the puzzle correctly, but after she goes through the door, a trap opens up and drops her down a shaft lined with hands.
Sarah: Help! Stop it! Help!
Helping Hand: What do you mean “help”? We *are* helping.
Different Helping Hand: We’re Helping Hands.
Sarah: You’re hurting!
Helping Hand: Would you like us to let go? Heh-heh…
[They loosen their grip, Sarah starts to slide downward]
Sarah: No!
[They catch hold of her again]
Helping Hand: Well then, come on, which way?
Sarah: Which way?
Helping Hand: Up, or down?
Sarah: Oh…
Helping Hand: Come on, come on.
Different 
Helping Hand: We haven’t got all day.
Different Helping Hand: Well, it’s a big decision for her.
Different Helping Hand: Which way do you want to go, hm?
Sarah: Oh.
Helping Hand: Yes, which way?
Sarah: Well… since I’m pointed that way, I guess I’ll go down.
Helping Hand: She chose DOOOOOWN!
Different Helping Hand: She chose *down*? Heh!
[they let go]
Sarah: Was that wrong?
Helping Hand: Too late now!
As it turns out, at the bottom of the shaft is the oubliette (where you put people to forget about them.) This is most definitely not the right way. Of course, if Sarah had been thinking, she would have asked to go up - after all, any time a booby trap opens up, you’re probably on the right path.
In my own life, I continued down the wrong path with regards to my career. Seven years ago, I got a position in the insurance industry. Over the next seven years, I switched companies, earned designations and awards, but didn’t get any happier. Every move I made deeper into the industry, was because it was the way I was pointing. I thought it was the right decision because going back looked harder than going forward. Finally, I admitted my mistake, but it took a layoff to seal the deal.
I know I’m not the only one who has continued with a career or a project because it seems like the right choice even though there is a little voice deep inside that tells us it is very much the wrong choice. Heed the lesson from Sarah and me - personal responsibility means taking the right trail, even if it’s not the way you happen to be pointing.
5. Fantasies only last so long before we must come back to reality. When the movie opens, we see Sarah rehearsing a play version of the labyrinth adventure she is to undergo later that night. She’s alone in a field, except for her dog. Later, her stepmother remarks that she doesn’t have dates, and when we see her in her room, she has toys covering almost every surface. It’s clear that Sarah is a teenager, yet doesn’t want to grow up.
As she travels through the labyrinth, Sarah is confronted with all her fantasy beliefs and shown, one by one, that they aren’t how things work in the “real world,” that is, any world outside her head, no matter how fantastical that world actually is. By the end of the movie, Sarah’s attitude matches her age and we can see that she has in fact, grown up. She still has the fantasy to play with now and then, but it doesn’t rule her life.
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a series of posts about how we can examine our fantasies to help us clarify what we really want. But, there is always that danger of not leaving the fantasy, of letting it take over our life. As adults, this happens rarely, but I know it can happen. There are times when I’ve been working on a piece of fiction writing and it takes over almost all my waking thoughts. My mind goes crazy with ideas, and you will see me spend hours jotting them down in a notebook. The crafting of fiction is very similar to playing out an elaborate daydream in your head. Fortunately, I don’t need to rescue my younger brother to snap me out of the writing fantasy, but the principle is still the same.
It’s very tempting to be constantly thinking about what we could do to reach our goals. Making goals, setting plans, and then not following through is very common. However, to reach those goals we have to take responsibility for taking action and not just planning action.
6. In the end it’s the belief in yourself and your power that wins out. Once Sarah has solved the labyrinth and made it to the castle, she still must face down Jareth to get her brother back. He offers her everything she could ever want, but she responds:
Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great. You have no power over me.
And he doesn’t anymore. She has defeated her final enemy in the labyrinth, and at the same time, has defeated her fears of change and growing up. This is an important moment for Sarah as she realizes that she isn’t just repeating a line from a play, but she is telling the truth about her life. You can hear it as her voice changes, like she is surprised: You have no power over me.
This is a very powerful moment when it happens to us as well. Whenever we work to change, we face fear. By healing a hurt, losing weight, establishing a new habit, or make another change we overcome that fear. Realizing the fear no longer has any power over us is a life changing moment.
Personal responsibility is sometimes easy, and sometimes difficult. I know that for me when it comes to self improvement projects, I often find that taking responsibility is very hard. There is a lot of fear to overcome and a strong need to continue what has been working, at least a little bit. However, taking that responsibility moves me closer to my dreams, and farther away from those activities that don’t make me happy. I encourage you to undergo your own journey of self discovery, although a labyrinth with goblins and facing down a powerful Goblin King isn’t necessary to do so. (Might be a lot of fun, though!)
If you have stories of your own “A Ha!” moments, please share them below. Or, if you have any comments or thoughts to add to the discussion, I would love to hear them as well.
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Links to related topics: Affirmations, Being Present, Connecting With Others, Conscious Mind, Diet, Do Our Best, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Balance, Encouragement, Exercise, Friends, Having Fun, Healing Past, Inspiration, Labyrinth, Limiting Beliefs, Listening, Mindset, Passions, Paying Attention, Personal Control, Personal Power, Personal Responsibility, Self Definition, Setting Goals, Subconscious Mind, Taking Action, Taking Notice, True Self, Trust, Unconscious Messages, Understanding Ourselves, Values
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Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and Personal Responsibility Part 1
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Table of contents for Labyrinth Lessons
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and The Power of Friendship Part 1
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and The Power of Friendship Part 2
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and Personal Responsibility Part 1
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and Personal Responsibility Part 2
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Table of contents for Cat's Wisdom
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Table of contents for Labyrinth Lessons
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and The Power of Friendship Part 1
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and The Power of Friendship Part 2
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and Personal Responsibility Part 1
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Table of contents for Labyrinth Lessons
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and The Power of Friendship Part 1
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and The Power of Friendship Part 2
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and Personal Responsibility Part 1
- Lessons on Self Improvement - Labyrinth and Personal Responsibility Part 2
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Table of contents for Fighting Litter
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Table of contents for Fighting Litter
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Table of contents for Fantasies and Goal Setting
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- Fantasies: Fun, Captivating, And The Key To Our True Selves - Part 2
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