It Has Finally Happened.
Well, it has finally happened. After three years of motherhood the time has come… Elsa has entered the building… Frozen has landed! It started so innocently with a little watch of a DVD at Oma’s that found its way into our bag at home time, and blossomed into total domination of our TV, our Spotify account, bath time singing and bedtime story time. And I must say I am quite enjoying myself! There is nothing quite like belting out a power ballad with two of my favourite heroines – Idina Menzel and my three year old daughter. The most wonderful thing of all is watching Nell and her imagination in full flight. I have to admit that when she stamped her foot at the precise moment Elsa did in “Let it go” with her arms in the air, I welled up! What on earth am I going to be like when she plays the third animal from the left in the school nativity one day?!
The lessons and messages of the story have popped into my life at quite an appropriate time. We’re in planning mode in the Colenso house at the moment and Dom and I have been deciding on our New Year’s resolutions, setting goals and discussing what we want to achieve in the next year. So I am taking some inspiration from Disney’s Frozen and the amazing leading ladies Elsa and Anna and applying some of the great advice to 2017. There are four phrases in the movie that I think hold really powerful messages and I want to share them with you.
The first phrase is “Fear is the Enemy”. Fear stops us from reaching our full potential, from understanding our true power. Fear gets us all at some point in our lives but it is how we cope with it that matters. What has fear done to you? Has it made you hide your true self from the outside world or the ones you love like Elsa? Or has it stopped you stepping outside your comfort zone? Do you truly know what you are capable of? This year I plan to be more like the character of Anna – taking on my fears and looking them straight in the eye.
The second stand-out phrase for me is “People make bad choices if they are mad or scared or stressed. Throw a little love their way and you’ll bring out their best.” What wise words from a troll! I love this lyric from “Fixer Upper” because it is so forgiving. 2016 was quite a decisive year on many levels. So my intention for the next twelve months is to be more forgiving to others and also to myself. Sometimes it is alright to get things wrong. Just throw some love and forgiveness at most problems and they solve themselves.
The song that’s been getting the most airtime in the Colenso household over the last two weeks is the movie’s signature power ballad “Let it go!”. What a brilliant song, filled with glorious gifts of advice! One idea that really resonated with me comes from this line: “It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small”. Such simple and effective advice. Next time Nell and I feel we are being swallowed by a situation or a problem we will be taking a step back and distancing ourselves to gain some perspective using Elsa as our example.
The final quote I wanted to share is “True love brings out the best”. I know that Nell doesn’t understand the significance of this line at the moment as she sings along to the movie but it’s something I’ll be encouraging her to cling onto when she is looking for her partner in life. I want her to feel that her lover brings out the best in her, that she does the same for them and that together they bring out the best in their surroundings because, as far as I’m concerned, that is true love. I can’t think of a better way to describe it. It’s such a simple phrase to remember too if there are any doubts in a relationship. Does your love bring out the best?
All in all, if I had to distill the film down to a single theme I think it would be self-awareness. It’s such an important attribute and something that we can all continue to develop as we move into the New Year. We need to understand how our emotions affect others and our own well being. We may think we are doing the right thing by keeping our problems bottled up but maybe a storm is brewing and gaining more and more power. A storm far greater than it needs to be. A storm that may freeze our hearts or our loved one’s hearts. And what use is a frozen heart to anyone?
So thank you for the lessons Frozen. I look forward to watching you many, many more times if Nell has anything to do with it. Happy New year to everyone and I hope that 2017 brings you fearlessness, bravery, laughter and love!
And as far as resolutions go, I’ll leave you with this line from Elsa… “It’s time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through”. What a great motto for the beginning of a new year don’t you think?
Namaste.
Lots of love,
Laura
