Growing up, we’ve all had different influences that formed us into the bright young adults we are today. We’ve had a variety of moments that helped to mold us—some more positive than others. Yet I still believe that some of life’s greatest lessons were instilled in us through our childhood Disney movies. There are an infinite amount of lessons encompassed by the world of Disney animation.
For example, Buzz and Woody showed us how important friendships are and that sometimes those friends come unexpectedly. As we’ve gotten older, we know that there are true friends who stay with you even in life’s most complicated moments. And occasionally, we just may need someone to help us out of whatever sticky situation we’ve gotten ourselves into.
With those friends, we learned that we can accomplish great things—no matter how big or small. We watched Marlin and Dory on their journey through the sea; all while learning that life can get a bit messy, but if we “just keep swimming” we’ll make the happiest of memories.
Belle proved that true beauty is found on the inside. Plus, she taught us that being intelligent holds more weight than beauty. As beauty changes based on opinion, intelligence is something that gives true value to individuals. When we are independent, courageous, loving, and caring, we build strong character. This gives us a beauty that radiates outward.
The list goes on and on: Alice illustrated that imaginations are limitless. All 101 Dalmatians epitomized the idea of family and taught us that you would travel to the ends of the earth for the ones you love. The cute old man, Carl, from "Up," along with his sidekick Russell, are testaments to life’s great adventures. Aging is inevitable, but we always have more to look forward to. Along with growing up, come the great adventures that await us. And moment after moment, we slowly realize that life is the greatest and most colorful adventure of all! And we can't forget the motto: Hakuna matata! Living worry-free is easier said than done, but with a little help from our favorite "Lion King" characters we were taught that it’s a key part to surviving in this wild world.
And we were told to never grow up. Unfortunately, Peter Pan is the one that we often ignore advice from. By now we’ve (hopefully) figured out that getting older is something we just can’t prevent and flying off to Neverland to live a lifetime of childlike fun just isn’t an option. It’s a bittersweet moment approaching a birthday. Partly because we’re thankful to have accomplished another year as we look forward to what the next one holds. But also, as we get older we realize things aren’t black and white like the nasty Captain Hook versus the magic of fairy dust. Problems become bigger than we ever thought possible. And every year time seems to be passing just a little faster than before.
Regardless, thanks to Peter, we were all prepared to embark on the scariest thing of life, this thing they call growing up. It’s a hard thing growing up, we eventually have to say goodbye to our child-self. But our flying friend was right. He reminds us that just because we get older doesn’t mean we actually have to grow up on the inside. No matter how old we get, we’re never too old to relive our childhood with those Disney classics!
