The Dragon

Image courtesy of Aztlek on Flickr

“If you banish the dragons, you banish the heroes.”

– Andrew Solomon

I have spent a lot of time wondering “why me?”  More time than I would care to admit. But when you are faced with difficulty or hardship, you can’t help but wonder why the burden to overcome fell on your shoulders. You might think that someone else would be better prepared to handle it. Or worse, that you deserved it in some way.

I recently listened to a TED Talk by Andrew Solomon, and he said “if you banish the dragons, you banish the heroes.” And I was so inspired by that idea. Aren’t we all facing dragons of some shape or form? Some of us are fighting several at once. It’s exhausting, and difficult, and scary. And it’s hard to imagine a happy ending sometimes.

But by fighting your dragons, you become a hero. You may not defeat them easily, or at all. You may be constantly battling or you may have given up. But the fact that you fought the dragon at all is impressive and inspiring. You lived to tell about it! You survived! Your real life dragons may not be so glamorous, and most of the time your story will be misunderstood by those who haven’t fought your particular breed of dragon. But that’s okay. This journey isn’t for them to understand. It’s for you. And those who are fighting the same dragons you have fought.

Some of us won’t defeat the dragon. Sometimes, just looking at him is difficult and hard to bear. But does that mean that you weren’t courageous? You faced him. You may not have defeated him, not yet. But you survived.

So please, when you are feeling down, remember that you are brave for showing up. And that’s enough.