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What Princess Rapunzel Can Teach Us About Following Your Dreams

Disney’s “Tangled” princess isn’t your traditional Rapunzel. The girl has dreams. She also has a frying pan and isn’t afraid to use it. Yes, she’s trapped in a tower with a mother figure that has control issues, but when she has the opportunity to seize her dreams--she takes it.

This Rapunzel feels guilty, but she also realizes that when it comes to her dreams, it’s now or never. A great lesson for any little princess or prince gearing up to face the real world. It doesn’t hurt to point out some of the life lessons the movie makes so well.

Don’t Wait for Your Real Life to Begin

So many people waste their lives because they sit and wait for their dreams to come to them. They think everything will fall into place eventually. They just have to be patient. 

With all due respect to Lana Turner, you’re not going to run into a big Hollywood producer at the counter of a drug store, and if you do they probably won’t turn you into a star.

When it comes to goals, you have to have a big idea but also think about the dozens of little ones that will get you there. Start by setting out and finding the people who can help you find your way.

If you want to be a stockbroker, go meet one and pick their brains. If you want to be a writer, hit some workshops where you can meet mentors.

Get out of your comfort zone and make it happen!

Don’t Give in to the Haters

There will be plenty of people who will tell you what you can’t do. In “Tangled,” this villainy is even disguised as love, which makes it the most abusive form of criticism. Mother Gothel tells Rapunzel:

On your own, you won't survive
Sloppy, underdressed
Immature, clumsy
Please, they'll eat you up alive
Gullible, naÎve
Positively grubby
Ditzy and a bit, well, hmm vague
Plus, I believe
Gettin' kinda chubby
I'm just saying 'cause I wuv you

 

The world is ready to crush your confidence. Don’t let it. Don’t believe the mean things people say, even if out of love.

Parents should be supportive. However, If the kids want to be Oscar-winning actors or Grammy-winning musicians, also encourage them to have a backup plan--not because they can’t be good enough to fulfill their dreams, but because sometimes dreams don’t play well with others. Your little dreamers might also need to work a different job while pursuing their goals.

Which brings us to the next key piece of advice in this Disney masterpiece:

Acquire Skills

When you have any time on your hands, don’t waste it by waiting around. Learn as much as you can, whenever you can.

Sometimes we grow up thinking of things we don’t want to know how to do. For instance, we might avoid taking a typing class because we’re afraid it will lead to us being an underling fetching the coffee when we want to be the boss. Well, bosses need to know how to type, too.

Look at Rapunzel with the baking, candle-making, painting, and guitar strumming she does. She is a much more interesting person for all she’s learned, even though her furious activity was born from a kind of desperation.

But if she hadn’t turned out to be a princess after she fulfilled her dream of seeing the glowing lanterns, she had several ways to support herself. 

Besides, hobbies are a great way to enjoy life.

Be Kind and Optimistic

Need we say more?

Watch the Movie Again

So did we hit on some of your favorite takeaways? What do you like best about “Tangled?”

Maybe it’s time to get your daughter the appropriate princess dress, make some popcorn, and have a family movie night that also includes some great conversations.


Have fun!