The Rise of the Chosen Ones. Joseph C. Parker
shown in The Golden Child, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, it is little wonder that most don’t believe success can happen for them. We are not all a chosen one according to the myth. What if we had better role models showing people of modest means transforming their lives and finding their own greatness? If more role models such as this existed, you would be empowered, inspired, and even motivated. Is there a personal power shortage in most of our lives? I think so.
The examples above show the deception and trap of the chosen one myth. It takes away our personal responsibility and power. It leads us to live in a fantasy world where others control our lives, and we wait for them to make choices for us. It degrades the playing field so that we believe that others have innate abilities and destinies that we cannot share. It distracts us from the true lesson of the mythical chosen one, which will soon be revealed.
Finally, the myth talks of the chosen one instead of the chosen ones. Aren’t we all truly chosen ones? How can the universe love some more than others? In truth, we can all be chosen ones, because nobody possesses wisdom or skill that we do not all share. What we see in popular movies and literature is a farce that teaches us weakness instead of power. It teaches us to rely on outside factors to determine our fate. The mythical chosen one story is truly a myth that holds you back.
There is a fundamental lesson to be learned from these stories if you pay attention to a key issue. What was the common thread that caused Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, and Eddie Murphy’s character in The Golden Child to overcome their mediocre lives and accomplish great tasks? Here is a hint: It was not the act of being chosen by someone else. No, even for them being chosen came long before they were able to come into their own power. Being chosen was just a turning point in their lives. It began the journey. It was merely a starting point.
Think of yourself. You know there is huge creativity inside of you waiting to come out. Once you are able to break free from the complacency of waiting, an amazing life will come forth. So why are so many of us still waiting to be chosen? We wait for a chance at success or fame hoping to get that big break from others. To be chosen by an agent, a talent scout, a publishing company, a senior executive, a coach, or a TV show. Is waiting really that much fun?
We have become followers in a very patient world. A world where our patience costs us the loss of our dreams, in exchange for the meager hope of a modest retirement. We distract ourselves on the TV, mobile device, and the Internet to prevent us from noticing the life we missed.
We often wait so long that we fall asleep at the wheel of our lives. Many of us have stopped dreaming and making goals because it’s too painful. Dreams are only motivational if we believe we can obtain them. Dreams with little hope of being realized due to their dependence upon others become just reminders of our mediocrity.
So let’s understand the myth of the chosen one for what it really is – a poor example of how to succeed. It’s an exclusive club that has few members, in fact, no members. Remember; it’s a lie that only some of us are chosen. We are all chosen ones. Are you not tired of being lied to?
Let’s now move forward and release this myth so that it will no longer have power over us. Then let’s examine this myth from another perspective that provides us with power and removes our weaknesses. Your future is bright, and you will soon discover the key that will make you one of the self-chosen ones.
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RISE
There is a trend in the world and chosen ones are rising up everywhere. They are no longer living by old rules that require them to wait to be recognized by someone else in order to live their dreams.
Let’s review again some of the chosen one myth examples that have popularized the concept. In the Harry Potter novels and movies, the love and sacrifice of Harry’s mother created an unyielding protection for Harry, causing the killing curse to rebound onto Voldemort. This in effect gave Harry some of Voldemort’s particular powers, which strengthened as Harry got older and as Voldemort grew stronger. Harry was revered as a living legend and a chosen one. Over the course of his adventures, but not without considerable self-doubt, he finally fulfilled the prophecy that he would vanquish Voldemort.
Luke Skywalker was the son of a fallen Jedi Knight in the Star Wars movies. He was a reluctant student of the Force and doubted himself many times along the way. Still, he became a Jedi Knight even after he lost his teacher in a fight with Darth Vader. He resisted the dark side of the Force and fulfilled his destiny by conquering the evil Empire.
In the Eddie Murphy movie The Golden Child, he was a man with unlimited potential like all of us. However, he was living below his potential and dealing with his fears and doubts. Does that sound familiar? Suddenly, a mysterious and beautiful Asian woman chooses him for a great deed. This becomes the catalyst that puts him on a journey to discover his inner strength, creativity, and wisdom, which enabled him to overcome the kidnappers and save the boy from danger. Something he could never have imagined doing a few days earlier.
What made the difference for Eddie Murphy in this movie? Is it that he was chosen somehow? No, the act of being chosen just started the process that allowed him to rise above his current situation and become the person inside him waiting to be released. Even though the girl chose him, he still needed to believe in himself to accomplish the tasks required to succeed. It follows then that the real reason for his ultimate success came from eventually choosing himself. When that inner mental and emotional event finally occurred, his inner genius, belief, and confidence were finally released.
Choosing yourself is the missing key lesson from the mythical chosen one story. We must all choose ourselves for greatness before it can ever happen. We must choose ourselves in the same way as someone else would choose us. We must choose our skills, our talents, our knowledge, our bodies with all their flaws and imperfections for success and happiness. After all, there is no one more qualified and deserving than you.
So what is the ultimate lesson in The Golden Child story? Should you wait for a mysterious person to choose you for a secret mission? How long do you think you might wait for this to happen, possibly a lifetime? The truth is that Eddie Murphy’s character had the power to choose himself for greatness at any time. He didn’t need to wait to be chosen. However, once he made the decision to choose himself for greatness, it was the turning point, and he was able to achieve success.
The same is true for each of us. Many of us wander the world waiting to be chosen for greatness, without realizing our greatness is already in there waiting for us to access it. The act of choosing ourselves is a simple and profound choice. By doing it, we affirm to ourselves, and the world, that our lives are significant, and we have talents and gifts to give. Once we recognize our greatness and make the choice to live to our full potential, we begin to get out of our own way. This is because we are the ones who truly limit ourselves, instead of the greater world around us, as we may assume.
We make excuses for and justify our self-imposed limitations. We say things like, “I could never do that” or, “I am not like that.” Each time we justify our limitations we are unconsciously working to keep them in place, which results in driving them deeper into our subconscious mind until we ultimately believe them.
We build an ordinary life of limitation in this way, which results in an ever-shrinking box of restrictions and fear. However, it is a box of our own making, and only we have the key to open it. We do not have to live this way. We can get out of our own way, and shake off these self-imposed limitations. Our fears and limits are only lies we have accepted and allowed to grow in our minds far too long. Like weeds in a garden, we can and must throw them out. We start this process by choosing ourselves for greatness.
Here are affirmations I have found to be powerful. Read them slowly and feel the energy and emotions they