Finding Happiness With Rainbows, Dorothy and the Fish (Wishing for a "Better" Life?)

Who could ever forget this song which became so popular because of the classic movie “The Wizard of Oz”? Everyone who has read the book and watched the film would really appreciate this song so much and would truly remember DOROTHY.

Originally "The Wizard of Oz" (a.k.a "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz") is a children’s novel, authored by L. Frank Baum and was published in1900. Since then, it has then been reprinted a million times. In 1902, it was played on stage and eventually was filmed in 1939. It remained a very popular fantasy film for many years. This paved way to popularize the name DOROTHY because it was the name of a girl who is the center of the story.

This film was well loved by many, maybe (or surely) because of the after taste that it leaves in the hearts of those who have read or watched it. I, myself have loved the story so much that I would love to share it to my son when the time is right.

Dorothy is a girl who lived with her Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, and little dog Toto in Kansas. She always wished to just go away and have her own life with her dog. At that time, she did not appreciate the goodness of her own home.One day the farmhouse, with Dorothy and Toto inside, is caught up in a tornado and found themselves in a field in the Land of Oz. The falling house kills the ruler of the Munchkins, who is the Wicked Witch of the East.

The Good Witch of the North came to welcome Dorothy and gave her the Silver Shoes that the Wicked Witch of the East was wearing when she was killed. In order to return to Kansas, the Good Witch of the North told Dorothy that she will have to go to the "Emerald City" and ask the Wizard of Oz to help her.On her way,Dorothy freed a Scarecrow from the pole he is hanging on, restored the movements of the rusted Tin Woodman with an oil, and encouraged them and the Cowardly Lion to journey with her and Toto to the Emerald City. The Scarecrow wanted to get a brain, the Tin Woodman a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, courage. They all believed that the Wizard can help them. Together, they overcame all obstacles along the way.

When they arrived at the Emerald City, they are asked to use green eyeglasses by the Guardian of the Gates. The wizard showed himself in different ways every time he appeared to someone. To Dorothy, the Wizard is a giant head;the Tin Woodman saw a ravenous beast; the Cowardly Lion saw a ball of fire and the Scarecrow saw a beautiful woman. The Wizard agreed to help each of them, in one condition that one of them must kill the Wicked Witch of the West who rules over the Winkie Country.

As the friends traveled across the Winkie Country, the Wicked Witch sends wolves, bees, crows and her soldiers to attack them, but they managed to conquer them. Then, using the power of the Golden Cap, the Witch summons the Winged Monkeys to capture all of the travelers.

The Wicked Witch got one of Dorothy's silver shoes, Dorothy got angry and grabbed a bucket of water and splashed it on the Wicked Witch, who begun to melt. The Winkies rejoiced for being free from the witch, and they helped to reassemble the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman. The Winkies love the Tin Woodman, and they asked him to become their ruler, and he agreed and promised to come back after helping Dorothy to go home.

When Dorothy and her friends met the Wizard of Oz again, he did not want to talk to them anymore. And with the help of fate, Toto accidentally tipped over a screen in a corner of the throne room, revealing the Wizard to be an old man who had journeyed to Oz from Omaha long ago in a hot air balloon.

The Wizard provided the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion with a head full of bran, pins, and needles, a silk heart stuffed with sawdust, and a potion of "courage", respectively. Not knowing that these items were really useless, it caused a "placebo" effect on them and has helped them to go on with their journey. In order to help Dorothy and Toto get home, the Wizard realizes that he will have to take them home with him in a new balloon, which he and Dorothy made. Revealing himself to the people of the Emerald City one last time, the Wizard appoints the Scarecrow, by virtue of his brains, to rule in his stead. Dorothy chases Toto after he runs after a kitten in the crowd, and before she can make it back to the balloon, the ropes break, leaving the Wizard to rise and float away alone.

Dorothy became hopeless and thought that she can't go home but The Soldier with the Green Whiskers informed her about Glinda the Good Witch of the South. Together, with her dog, they escaped the obstacles but almost losing Toto along the journey to Glinda's home.Glinda eventually told Dorothy that she had the power to go home. Dorothy and Toto returned home realizing that there's no place like home.

We are at times like DOROTHY, wishing to find happiness and believing we can have it elsewhere, and thinking that we can find joy by having some things that we don't have at the moment and leaving behind what we have.

"Happiness is a form of courage." (Holbrook Jackson)

I can still remember what my grandfather once told me about a fish most admired in Japan. I felt so down, so unhappy because of the pressures of being a teenager, and seeing him sick and bed ridden was so difficult. One thing I remember most about my grandfather is that he was always so sensitive to how I felt. He always knew how I truly felt and always had the right things to say to make me feel better. Seeing me feeling down might have caused him to talk about the carp fish. According to him, the carp fish is considered as courageous and determined fish in Japan because it swims upstream, even against the flow of waterfalls. Because of their reverence to the fish, they even celebrate Children's Day in Japan every year on the 5th. day of May, by tying carp- shaped wind socks to their homes as a way to wish their children HAPPINESS.

In our own quest for happiness, we cannot achieve what we are looking for if we don’t have enough courage and determination to go against the waves of life and without the heart to just sail with the winds to find our own rainbows. Whenever you feel sad, go on and cry as much as you like. In reality, life’s like that, no one has ever had constant feelings of happiness. But don’t let it take you away. Don’t cry and feel sorry all your life, stay courageous and determined.

In this life, we can’t deny the fact that true happiness does not linger constantly. Although much has been heard and read about how to be happy and what happiness is all about, we sometimes suffer the blues, or even depressions brought about by the hassles and bustles in our day to day existence. And like Dorothy, we sometimes wish that we could just go away find our own rainbows and eventually be happy. We often lose hope, letting go of our own courage and determination.

"Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open." (John Barrymore)

We dream of a land that is hassle free… yet in the real world, nothing is hassle free. It is just that we fail to realize sometimes that only after the storms can we find rainbows and beyond the clouds are blue skies waiting to show up. Troubles don’t really melt like lemon drops, but who cares? We have God to help us to be sturdy enough and face whatever life may give us. We wish that clouds may be far behind us, but it would be better if we ask Him to stay with us and keep us strong as we rage the storms of life. We may envy the birds for their ability to fly yet we could have known that we’ve been flying without wings because of His love and the love of the people who truly cares for us. We complain of a boring life, yet we forget that the things we do and care for everyday are the things we live for. We are at times irritated with the people around us, never realizing that they are actually our reasons for holding on. They are the ones who stay with us through the good and the bad. We often forget the people who always pat our shoulders to inspire us whenever we feel down. As always, life is not a fairy tale, but dreams turn into reality as long as we keep believing and doing things with God’s never ending mercy, with the knowledge that we can never be alone because He has blessed us with a family, friends and even strangers who can teach us lessons in life that no book could ever teach.

In a gist, we can always be happy as long as we realize how to appreciate and look at the brighter side of life, with the heart that knows who holds our future despite our day to day uncertainties. Like Dorothy, we should realize that everyone has the power to overcome their own obstacles, and sometimes, we need the help of other people to make us realize how tough we can get. The wizard did not really “gave” them what they wanted because they had it inside themselves all along; the Scarecrow had a brain, he just needed to be given a chance to use it; the Tin Man had a heart, he just needed someone to care for; the Lion had courage, he just needed a true opportunity to be courageous; and of course, Dorothy, according to Glinda, had the power to go home all along with the use of the silver shoes whcih was given to her even at the very beginning of her journey. And they would have not done all these if they were not courageous and determined.

Aside from that, the adage popularized by “The Wizard of Oz” which says, “There’s no place like home,” is true. Sometimes, we fail to be happy because we don’t often realize the true value of the people who are always with us. Like Dorothy, we sometimes want a place elsewhere thinking that we could be happier and have a better life only to realize how much we want to go home and how happy we could get when we get back to where our real happiness is- OUR HOME.

At the end of the day, we could realize that our quest for happiness has taken us away from it, because we failed to keep in mind that true happiness is the appreciation of what we have and the security of knowing that although we are not perfect, some people truly love and care for us. Happiness is in the presence, the hugs and loving gestures of our family, the encouragement of our real friends and the life we live everyday with these people who loves us unconditionally. These are the cause of our joys, and the things that we should always keep in mind whenever we face the stormiest days of our life… these are the things that somehow keep us HAPPY.

"I often wished for a "better" life... and then I woke up one day realizing how blessed my life is... At that moment, I knew deep in my heart, that I could never wish for a better life again. Because life has always been so good to me... what could be better than that?" (DjBryle Works, "Dancing With HAPPINESS AND STORMS")

Copyright by DjBryle Works, 2010 (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED AND AUTHORIZED BY LAW)

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