As a grown up, I’m still a little bit of a kid. I loved Saturday morning cartoons when I was growing up. The creativity, imagination, and ability to draw you into another place and time was irresistible. Maybe its nostalgia, or maybe I never grew up, but whatever the reason, I still love to sit down and watch cartoons. It’s one thing my kids and I do to unwind and take a moment together. We’ve been into the series Voltron lately. I love that real science is discussed and applied to futuristic problems solving and teamwork. But my favorite thing about this series is the recognition of our inner potential. In the series the Paladins (the heroes of the show) are always provoked into some sort of battle where they must defend the innocent. Their enemies are relentless and although one battle may be won, their attackers come back again and again with new and improved weapons and more powerful sources of energy to fuel their attack. The battle always comes down to the ability to locate and harness a fuel source to power the attack or counter attack.
In the series, the Paladins were chosen by their Loins (mechanical fighting machines that can join together to form Voltron). The Paladins and the Lions share a mysterious, magical, telepathic and telekinetic connection with their Lions. On several occasions, throughout the series, the Paladins are about to lose the battle or be destroyed. Their only hope is to form Voltron by joining their Lions, who, for dramatic effect, are somewhere far away and unreachable. As the series goes on the Paladins realize this telepathic, spiritual, connection with their Loins, and in doing so begin to recognize and develop their own inner power. Each time they connect with their Lions they increase their capacity to do so, which gives them strength, skill, and even access new weapons and features of the Loins they didn’t know they had before. After every weapon and defense has failed, they close their eyes, calm their minds, and connect to this energetic being that was both outside of and within themselves all along.
Often times, we can feel like a Paladin in our own lives. In a single week we come under fire in big and small ways, having to defend our position to protect ourselves and our universe. We draw our swords, fire our blasters, use evasive maneuvers, and raise our shields. But the battle rages on and the assaults continue to come. At some point, we find our energy source depleted and our thrusters no longer operational. We all have daily battles that rage around and within us. Just when we think we’ve defeated our enemy a new one arrives, stronger and more evolved than the last. There are days when we believe that our enemy might just destroy us. So, if the battle continues, and our enemy continue to evolve as we do, how do we finally win the battle?
These are the days we need to become like a Paladin. Though the battle rages around us, we stop, calm our minds, and connect with the deep and limitless supply of energy that is always available to us. The concept is counter intuitive and seemingly insane. When we are out of ammunition and backed into a corner. When we don’t think we can endure the conflict another second is precisely when we must connect and call upon our own inner Loin in whatever form that takes for you. Quiet the chatter within and lay aside the struggle of the moment. Access the deep well within you that lay dormant and discover your true strength and power. With renewed energy, hope, and maybe even a few new tools, we join the battle again to fight another day.