Lessons from Middle Earth 🌋
Hello,
Have you ever watched The Hobbit trilogy of films (or even better read the book?).
The world of JRR Tolkien is a regular feature in this house. My boys love a bit of Middle Earth. A rite of passage in the Miller family (long predating me) is to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy with each child. It is some of my husband’s favourite childhood memories.
I, however, come from a heathen family line that didn’t understand the importance of the work of JRR Tolkien and so I am a late adopter.
A beautiful moment stood out to me in a recent re-watch.
It happened when Bilbo (the Hobbit) is being recruited to the company of dwarves (a people who have lost their homeland and are about to head out on an adventure to get it back) by recommendation of Gandalf (a wizard and key figure throughout all the books).
Bilbo is not keen on the adventure and does not feel up to it. He quite likes the way that he knows, the safety of his life, knowing what to expect, and having confidence that he is up to the job in hand. He does not, by any means, think that he is the best option for the above task. This is a fact.
The dwarves are also not convinced that Bilbo is up to the job. He’s small in stature and outlook, he has zero experience, struggles with confidence and doesn’t look like the natural fit. These are also facts.
This is when Gandalf (who has enough presence and wisdom to go round) and speaks truth into the situation.
“He’s got a great deal more to offer than any of you realise, including himself”
Gandalf cuts through the facts and speaks truth to Bilbo. Gandalf could see beyond what was in front of him and looked at his potential, his character and his capacity to grow.
Bilbo chooses to take the risk, and live a life of adventure over safety.
OK, this is a fictional scenario (sorry superfans) but it spoke to me of my own experiences, and of so many people that I coach.
There are so many times that we look at the facts and decide to count ourselves out.
Not experienced enough. Not old enough. Not young enough. Too qualified. Not qualified enough. Not brave enough. Too outspoken. Not clever enough. Too clever.
And so on (pick your own adjective).
These may be facts (they may not all be facts, even).
But are they the truth?
The facts can help and hinder, but the truth sets us free.
The truth is this, you are more than the sum of your experiences, you have more courage than you realise and your capacity to do difficult things is always far larger than you are predicting.
Don’t let the facts and circumstances around you hold you back from hearing the truth.
Now sometimes we need some help in hearing the truth.
Who can act like Gandalf for you?
Who will help you see your strengths, your potential, who will speak truth to you and enable you to grow and illuminate your future?
Now, truth does NOT mean telling you that you can do all things. This is actually dangerous and can lead us down some disappointing paths.
But we can do hard things, and we can offer do so much more than we realise.
Look back at your track record at handling difficult things.
You have done it every single time.
So, the main messages here today (and on this week’s podcast), friend, are:
⛰️ Don’t let the facts get in the way of the truth
⛰️ Find out some Gandalfs to illuminate the way
⛰️ Who needs you to speak truth to them?
⛰️ Say yes to the adventurous route (whatever that means for you)
⛰️ There’s a lot to learn from Middle Earth
đź“– 1 quote
“He’s got a great deal more to offer than any of you realise, including himself”
— Gandalf
đź“Š 1 stat
Over 100 million copies of The Hobbit have been sold since its publication in 1937
1 question
Where in your life are you letting facts hold you back from the truth of your potential?
Love,
Hannah x
P.S. If we aren’t yet friends on social, let’s be – you can find me @hellohannahmiller. You’ll also find short reels from the podcast if you don’t have time to listen to the whole episode.