From the day we arrive on the planet…

I’m happy to announce… The Oscars: movie versus novel?

From the day we arrive on the planet…

You can find life lessons everywhere. You only need to look for them.

After recently re-watching Disney’s The Lion King I listened carefully to the lyrics to The Circle of Life. And the words moved me. It has always been said and often goes without saying that children’s programmes and films are filled with lessons to draw upon in life; trust in your friends, be nice, always try to do the right thing…. But as an adult we can often take the words and these lesson for granted. So, as an adult and re-listening to these lyrics I found that they summed up life pretty well. I’ve posted the transcript of the lyrics below for you to read through and hopefully you’ll see what I mean.

Life is what you make it. Sometimes bad things happen and sometimes good things happen, but all the good and the bad is all part of life. There’s no point fighting it, but equally there’s no point giving up either. The first stanza, for me, basically says that this world is too complex, there’s too much to see and do, too much knowledge in the whole world, past, present and future, to worry about it all, and you shouldn’t worry about it all.

The Circle of Life - life is cyclical. Bad times. Good times. Birth. Life. Death. All we need to do is find our place in it. This place is our own, it doesn’t need to be earth shattering. Just ours. Simply ours.

With all the books and advice on how to live our lives to the fullest, how to see through the bad times, and move forward to the good times, maybe all we need is the simplicity of children’s films. Whether it be Disney or Pixar or any other. Because the life lessons are always there, in uncomplicated and innocent words, if you look for them.

The Circle of Life

Music by Elton John; Lyrics by Tim Rice.

From the day we arrive on the planet

And blinking, step into the sun

There’s more to see than can ever be seen

More to do than can ever be done

There’s far too much to take in here

More to find than can ever be found

But the sun rolling high

Through the sapphire sky

Keeps great and small on the endless round

It’s the Circle of Life