My Weight Loss Adventure Day 24

Dorothy, The Scarecrow, The Tinman and The Cowardly Lion are characters from L Frank Baum’s book, and the MGM film, The Wizard of Oz. I think it is true to say that there are very few that don’t know the story. Dorothy is swept off to the land of Oz, in a hurricane where she kills the Witch of the East and has to find a way to get home before the witch’s sister, The Witch of The West succeeds in Killing her. Though this is a children’s fantasy it also has a lot to teach us, if we listen to the story with ears that our tuned in for deeper meaning.

The Scarecrow wanted a brain as his head was full of straw. The Tinman wanted a heart as the Tin smith who made his body forgot to put one in, and The Cowardly Lion wanted courage as he longed to be the king of the forest, which is the destiny of lions. Dorothy simply wanted to go home.

These four companions are great examples for anyone starting or continuing on with a lifestyle change or the any other goal. Why is this true? Because what they needed to achieve what they were aspiring to had already been given it to them. The Scarecrow proved that he had intelligence while on the journey; The Tinman proved that he could love. The cowardly lion proved his courage because courage doesn’t mean that you are not afraid, it means you face what you are afraid of and do what needs to be done. Dorothy got home and it was there that she knew love and understanding, but she was also given those in Oz, she too had what she needed.

What does this have to do with weight loss? It takes courage, love, wisdom and support to reach any goal, especially losing weight. We need the courage to admit we have a problem and do something about it.

We need to love others through this process, and we need to love ourselves, and we have to love well. Loving well puts action to the word. When we make the choice to love ourselves we also need to make the choice to love others, because when we love others well, we get our eyes off of ourselves, and our trial become easier to deal with.
The same happens for other people when they choose to love us. It’s easy to say I love you. It’s hard to love well and do something with the love inside. I have been blessed by two people in my life, the one is Pastor Brad Fredrickson, who taught me the concept of loving people well and how to put into practice, and Paul Felker who spent years trying to help me get out of a bad situation, sometimes dealing with me both day and night. He also put love into action, they both loved me well.

Wisdom and intelligence are also necessary to move us forward. We need to learn what foods are bad and what foods are good. Some of which will surprise us as we make this journey. We need to find out about ourselves and what kind of exercise works for us. We need to learn about our bodies, the whole package, the physical, the mental and the spiritual. All of these combine to make one whole person, and in the long run we are fighting to be whole.

We also need home, a place of unconditional love and support. We need friends who will stand and walk with us as we go through this process and make the journey with us. We need to be there for others too. Community, or the idea that we cannot go it alone, is crucial. If there isn’t a choice but for you to do the work on your own, then find people on line, Start going to a gym that has classes where everyone shares a goal, or go to school and take a class on general health. You’ll meet people there and you’ll find a home.

In the musical version of MGM’s The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy sings, “Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly, birds fly over the rainbow, why then oh why can’t I? The secret is, you can because we have “a brain a heart, a home, the nerve.”

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