From Fiction To Life Lessons, A Courtesy Of King Arthur (Part 2)

Hello and welcome back to the blog and if you are new: Welcome! I was planning on writing on a totally different topic but after my previous post went up and after watching kind Arthur a few more times (yes... you read that right) something very important popped up into my mind and I thought I would expand a little more on it rather than make it a bullet point. Today we are going to talk about feeling inadequate. There are many examples of people who felt or are feeling inadequate and for each of these examples, I am sure there are different endings to their stories. In the case of King Arthur, his inadequacy was manifested (in the movie of course... Gotta watch it) at three specific times in the form of denial. Denial of his identity, denial of his purpose, denial of the responsibilities that came with the previous two. However, his found ability to make peace with the truth of who he was and take upon him the responsibility that came with his purpose and identity turned the narrative of his story around. But unlike King Artur, many of us still fail to come to term with our feeling of inadequacy not in order to just let it be just that, but in order to acknowledge it and use it as a fuel to turn our narrative around. And because we fail so successfully at correcting the shot, a lot of us have squandered  what we have been given by God, negated the purpose/ assignment placed on our life but most importantly, we have forfeited the lives of the people whose outcome in life is tied to us walking into our purpose.

I know a lot about feeling inadequate. It is a feeling that I have carried with me ever since I was a child and it has been a burden. Everywhere I went, I felt like I was out of place. It was a very miserable feeling that made me squander and at time sabotage good things happening into my life instead of appreciating them. And it is not until very recently that I understood that there are two kinds of reactions one can have about that feeling: a) acknowledge it and doing to work necessary to grow in the area (s) where you feel inadequate or b) let that feeling swallow you entirely and throw your life to waste. The second choice is always the easiest one because who doesn't like easy? 

But let me tell you this : no matter how inadequate you feel, you are where you are today because you have potential and abilities. The reason why you are where you are is because there is something that you and only you can accomplish. Perhaps you think someone can do it better which is probably true, but it doesn't guarantee that the result will be the same, that the impact that person will have will be the same, that the reach they will have will be the same. And if God wanted that person to be there, it would be him/her and not you. Sometimes the place you are at, where you feel so inadequate is the place God wants you to be at in order for you to grow to move into your next season or into the next big thing He has for you or perhaps He simply want you there so that He can create for you a life someone will look at tomorrow to be encouraged; and who knows how big the ripple effect will be? 

There are a lot of loads that I have carried the wrong way and feeling inadequate it one of them because a) I was trying to be like everybody else, b) I let what I saw and felt get into the way of what my purpose was at different stage of my life, c) I approached this feeling the wrong way. So my advice to someone reading this, someone feeling out of place/inadequate: a) be you. The real you because there is something God wants to do in the world and in someone's life with your true identity; b) there is purpose into all those places where you don't feel at ease. If God put you there purposefully then trust Him and surrender what you feel to Him. I know it is frustrating but God knows how to turn things around; c) instead of hating that place or season of your life you are in where you feel so inadequate approach it a different way: ask God what is it in this place, job, season of life that I need to learn? to master or even to get rid of? because sometimes what we gain is what we lose. Ask God to order your steps and be genuinely willing to let Him show you the way. Changing your approach will make you focus less on being inadequate and more on growing, learning and getting the tools you need to move successfully into your next season or higher place. 

Hope this helps somebody. 

Until next time,

The Happiness Fairy 👸

From Fiction To Life Lessons, A Courtesy Of King Arthur

Hello and welcome back to the blog! If you are new on this blog: welcome! 

Starting the new year slowly in writing as I gather ideas and topics I would like to explore this year. I have nothing set in stone yet but off the bat, I knew that I wanted to try something different with the blog this year. Although I mostly bring soul food and topics that can sometimes be on the heavy side [emotionally], I am trying to broaden my horizons and incorporate new elements. I will still be my authentic self and will occasionally serve you the unfiltered truth behind the conversations I have with  myself [and other; when and if they are worth sharing]. Now that this is out of the way let's get into business.

Lately I have been having another look at movies and surprisingly enough, some of them in addition to being dubbed with actions have delivered a few truths to me that I thought was worth sharing. The first movie in line is the lastest version of King Arthur, starring Charlie Hunnam (from Sons of Anarchy) as King Arthur, Aidan Gillen (from The wires) as Goosefat Bill, Djimou Hounsou (Midnite in Constantine) as Sir Bidevere, Jude Law  as King Vortigen and surprise! David Beckham as Trigger. 

Charlie Hunnam (on the left) playing King Arthur and Jude Law (on the right) playing King Vortigen

After the murder of the his father and mother ( King and his wife) by his own uncle (Vortigen]) Arthur managed to flee the scene. He is found by prostitutes who raise him in a brothel. He manages to get well off from running the street but soon enough, his real identity catches up with him. The discovery of the sword of his father, bound to the Pendragon bloodline which Arthur belongs to triggers a series of events that shed light on Arthur real identity, causing a head to head collision between who he thought he was and who he was called to be, per his birthright. Can't give any spoiler so I will stop here. Yup... You'll have to watch the movie and trust me, it delivers but that's besides the point. The points are the following takeaways that I am about to list below so let's get into it.

1- What you are going through is not who you are

Arthur was raised in a brothel but it didn't change anything to the fact that he was still a king from birth. His destiny or identity was not bound to his environment or to the way he grew up. It was a reality that hit home to me because there were times where because of my circumstances, I thought I would never amount to anything because I had lost touch of who I really was. You might go through a lot of things, you might breakdown sometimes but! remembering who you and the vision of where  you want to be/ what you want to accomplish will pull you forward and help you move when you feel like you’re stuck

2- Nobody can take what is rightfully yours

I say it all the time: "nobody can take what is yours. If somebody stole something from you it either wasn't yours to begin with or it will come back to you in due time". Vortigen posted as an importer for years, terrorizing his subjects and running his Kingdom like a mafia but eventually the real and rightful king came back to take what belonged to him. And the same thing goes for us: what is rightfully ours will be ours no matter what. People might get away with posing as importers with blessings that belong to you but ONE DAY! [shaaaando 🙌🙌🙌] you will be in possession of what is yours. 

3- Getting where you are meant to be will cost you people

Now if you watch the movie (you should and I hope you do), you will get to that part where Arthur loses people who were close and dear to his heart: the journey from the streets to the throne cost him friends. Chasing a vision will cost you people, good and bad but you have to keep moving. Just because some people's chapter in your life stop doesn't mean that the story is over. They served their purpose which was hopefully to equip you with the right tools to achieve yours so don't stop until you get there.

4-  Set the rules and stand by your boundaries

People sometimes have a hard time letting go of who you were, no matter how hard you try to improve. King Arthur knows a thing or two about it and I bet you do too. There will be times where  as you try to take you life into another direction, people will come around and try you to check if they can still get away with the old behaviors that used to break/hurt you. This is the time where you have to introduce your new self, set some solid rules and boundaries and stand by them. As Iyanla said :"if you draw a line into the sand and someone crosses it, don't back away to draw another line." You have to stand right there and let them find out for themselves that as of now, there will be consequences coming with crossing the boundaries that you set. If they're ready for it, then they can suit up so that we can get the party started.

5- Find the right balance

Especially when it comes to ambitions and power, you need to find the right balance. King Vortigen's  thirst for power and ambition turned into madness, one that he did not hesitate to sacrifice his wife and daughter to quench. It is a great picture of the decadence we are observing in this era: people always wanting more, never satisfied, ready to sell their soul to get to the top, only to get there, catch a serious case of vertigo and come down crashing. Ambition and power are not bad, they only become poison when you don't know when to stop.

It's all for this first article of the year. If you have to forget everything and keep only one thing to hold on to from this article let it be this: what you are going through doesn't define you. Whatever you are going through shall pass so don't let it make you forget who you truly are. You are bound to do great things and you will do great things! Now go watch that movie (you'll thank me later).

Until next time,

The Happiness Fairy 👸