What does the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz have to do with you?

And so we begin by talking about that wondrous story of archetypal characters from The Wizard of Oz; specifically the Cowardly Lion. What was the great asset that he sought from The Wizard? Courage. Why am I writing about courage? Because if we look within ourselves and examine our own personal level of courage we begin to discover many important aspects of who we are.

I think the main thing I want to say is that it takes great courage to look within. I think there are many people who have never done that. I think there are some people that have tried but became afraid and frightened of what they saw. Rare is the person that has really looked deep within themselves. Those people, in my opinion, have exhibited the greatest kind of courage. The courage to look deeply within oneself.

Why would we want to do this? To know thyself. I believe that knowing yourself is the beginning point of becoming a truly successful person. It’s been said that this is the first step towards self mastery. But more on that topic later.

For now, let's just focus on being fully real, fully open, and fully honest and having the courage to look within ourselves.

This is a scary thing to do. What if we don't like what we see? How do we deal with that? What should we do with the things that we regret? What should we do with our successes?

Don't worry. Don’t let this concern you.

As you look within yourself I would en-courage you to search for what I call your “true identity”. Your true identity is who you really are. The original you. Not the ego you. Not the fake you. Not the you that you think everyone wants to see. Not the you that the world expects you to be. But the real you. If you look deeply enough, you will find the real you. And you will find that the real you has never changed. It's still the same you--the same you when you were a child, when you were an adolescent, and it is the same you now in adulthood. It's the you that you came into this life with. It is your uniqueness.

When you have the courage to look within, as you discover your real self, the next steps in your personal journey become more clear.

But it starts with the courage to look within. And to be really honest about what you see there.

As you progress to know yourself better you learn to love and accept yourself as the unique individual that you are.

In the future I will write about ways to help you get rid of “baggage” from the past. In the meantime, I en-courage you to cultivate your own innate courage (like the Lion) and look within. To look within is real courage!

You may have to challenge yourself to go beyond your current concepts, limitations, and cherished beliefs. Go within and meditate upon who is the real you.

My Soul2Soul website is about supporting and creating meaningful love relationships.There are many services offered there that can be used as tools to help you know yourself better. I en-courage you to use those tools to assist you on your own journey of love. Knowing yourself is the first step to being able to truly connect with your partner or potential partner.