I just finished watching the old animated TV classic Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It wouldn't be a fitting December without seeing this dear old friend at least once. While a friend was telling me that her young son described the animation as "lame," I don't care how lame it is. I still get really excited when I know it will be shown.
Back in 2005 on this very blog, I wrote a post about this famous reindeer. In part, I wrote,
We each have qualities that render us unique. Some of these unique qualities don't fit into the predefined pegs created by society. If we define ourselves solely by the definition of others, we are more likely to live lives against our own nature. This is illustrated in the story by Rudolph being down on himself for possessing a red nose.
In time, however, he came to recognize he must become the reindeer that he is. It was this inner confidence that he must follow his own intrinsic nature which provided him with the courage to return to Christmas Town to face the community. And it was this same confidence in himself that caused others to reevaluate their treatment of him.
The quaint little story of Rudolph is one that we should take to heart. When we deny who and what we are, we can't live the life we were meant to live.
Back in 2005 on this very blog, I wrote a post about this famous reindeer. In part, I wrote,
While I still believe that perspective has some merit, this year I'm looking at the story from a more Taoist frame of mind. It makes me think of external expectations and not coming to grips with one's internal nature.As I'm sure we all recall, Rudolph was shunned by the general Christmas town populace because he was different. However, his distinguishing feature -- his glowing red nose -- proved to be advantageous when Santa and his minions realized a terrible fog had settle over the North Pole. Suddenly, his uniqueness became chic and he was celebrated.
What rubs me the wrong way is the fact that the young reindeer was ONLY accepted into the "in crowd" WHEN it was discovered that his shiny red nose would benefit the plans of others. Had the thick fog NOT descended upon the North Pole, Rudolph would still be considered a "leper".
Beings should be valued. Period. Value should not be conferred ONLY when it benefits us. If not, then value is merely a self-serving construction and holds no intrinsic worth.
We each have qualities that render us unique. Some of these unique qualities don't fit into the predefined pegs created by society. If we define ourselves solely by the definition of others, we are more likely to live lives against our own nature. This is illustrated in the story by Rudolph being down on himself for possessing a red nose.
In time, however, he came to recognize he must become the reindeer that he is. It was this inner confidence that he must follow his own intrinsic nature which provided him with the courage to return to Christmas Town to face the community. And it was this same confidence in himself that caused others to reevaluate their treatment of him.
The quaint little story of Rudolph is one that we should take to heart. When we deny who and what we are, we can't live the life we were meant to live.
THE AMERICAN TAOIST SAYS GOOD MORNING TO ALL, MORNING HEAR ON THE EAST COAST, BUT THEN MORNING IS JUST A LABEL AS WE SOMETIMES PUT LABELS ON OTHERS WHO ARE DIFFERENT THEN WE ARE SO LETS JUST LET US ALL - BE.
ReplyDelete"When we deny who and what we are, we can't live the life we were meant to live."
ReplyDeleteHow absolutely true this is, and what a wonderful means of teaching this lesson is the story of Rudolph.
If only more people would slow down long enough to learn form the symbolic and metaphoric lessons life throws in our paths almost every day.