Frozen 2 and 3 Keys to Life

I absolutely love having daughters. They are my little feisty, beautiful, full of life bundles of sass and sweetness. Being their father has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I never realized however, that being a father to daughters automatically enrolls you into the school of Disney Princesses. I’ve seen almost every Disney movie there is and most recently, visited with every Disney Princess there was when we made our first venture to Disney World. For my daughters, their favorite Disney princesses have been Anna and Elsa from the movie Frozen. Not only have we watched that movie fifty thousand times, but I’m quite sure I have listened to “Let it Go” 3 times that amount. I could probably sing it for you word by word, albeit nowhere near as beautifully as Idina Menzel.

 On November 22nd, “Frozen II” opened in theaters to the delight of not only my daughters, but every other young girl in America. It closed out it’s opening weekend as the third highest grossing film for an animated movie, totaling over $127 million in the U.S.

This past weekend, a week after opening, my entire family took to the theaters to see this much anticipated sequel. My wife, daughters, son, sister, niece and nephew, myself and more bought out an entire row in our local theater and were all very excited about this newest adventure and the songs that would soon be echoing through our home.

 The movie was absolutely incredible. I laughed my head off and had moments of deep concern for the characters, but even more, I was absolutely inspired. I was so inspired by the underlying message that I wanted to share it with you as I believe they can be the key in living your best life.

 *Warning, these do contain spoilers*

 My 3 Keys to Life from Frozen II

 1. Your Calling Will Call To You - In the beginning of the film, Elsa feels pulled towards the unknown and breaks into her new hit song, “Into the Unknown”. She hears a sound, only she can hear, calling her out into the wilderness towards a magical land, however she is does everything she can to hide it and block it from her mind. She eventually is forced to follow the sound in order to save her kingdom and she sets out on an adventure that forces her to explore her true purpose and why she was created.

 There could be so many takeaways from just this, but the biggest for me is this, your calling will always call out to you. Who we were truly created to be will always call after us no matter how far we try to push it down and hide it.

 I believe that we were all made for a specific purpose and that we were given talents, skills and gifts to live that purpose out. To often, we try to fit into a mold that society, our family or our friends have made for us and we end up hiding away the our true calling and the dreams we’ve been given. What the movie shows us, which I believe is the key for us all, is that no matter how far you run, how hard you try to ignore it or hide it, your true calling, purpose and dreams will continue to call to you until you choose to listen.

 2. Fear Is a Killer Of Dreams - Throughout the beginning and most of the movie, there is a tension between Anna and Elsa. Elsa feels this pull to discover who she truly is, but Anna, out of fear of losing her sister, wants to hold her back and “protect” her. She is constantly trying to subdue Elsa, keeping her close by and encouraging her to not take too many risk. This comes to a head when Elsa uses her magic to whisk Anna away so that she can navigate the treacherous Dark Sea to find the voice calling to her.

 While it might look like Anna was trying to protect her sister, she was actually killing Elsa’s dreams with fear. Parents bubble wrap their kids in fear of them getting hurt, and we tell others their dreams are to big, to unrealistic and that they should not risk so much.

 What we have to realize is that our fear is actually killing their dreams and their ability to be who they were created to be. It’s creating an environment where instead of dreaming big, we convince them to dream average, ultimately losing out on the greatness that person has inside. We have to be very careful about these types of people in our lives and more so, careful that we aren’t that person in someone else’s life.

 3. It's Not About The Outcome, But The Next Right Choice - As the movie progresses, Anna finds herself alone. Olaf, Kristoff and Elsa are all gone and she is trapped with the fate of the world in her hands. She is overwhelmed and broken, believing the task is too big. Then her song, and probably my favorite, “The Next Right Thing” begins.

 Anna knows that the task in front of her is so grand that the chance for success is minimal, especially having to do it alone. Instead of admitting defeat, she decides that the most important thing for her to do is to make the “next right choice”. She isn’t focused on having it all figured out, or exactly how she was going to accomplish her goal, rather her focus is the current situation and making the next right choice.

 I believe that all to often, we get so focused on the goal, or the outcome, that we get overwhelmed with all of the decisions that we could potentially make. When someone wants to lose weight, they rack their brain over the right diet, workout plan, water intake and soon become so overwhelmed with all the decisions that they give up. Now I’m not saying those decision are wrong, but making the next right choice is so much more important than worrying about how you will make every choice correctly. If you have a goal, or dream you are trying to accomplish, don’t get so focused on the target that you forget to aim. Focus on the next right choice.

First Published at https://www.jonathandarling.net/post/frozen-2-3-keys-to-life