The UnlearnT Podcast
The UnlearnT Podcast is designed to help you gain the courage to change your mind about things you never thought you would change your mind about. Our hope is that you will begin to move towards a life of freedom after hearing stories from individuals who have chosen to unlearn some things in their lives.
The UnlearnT Podcast
From Cub to King: The Circle of Leadership in The Lion King
We explore leadership lessons from Disney's The Lion King, examining how this iconic film portrays the journey from youth to mature leadership through Simba's story.
• The Circle of Life establishes leadership as a circle, not a ladder – emphasizing contribution over position
• Young Simba focuses on benefits of kingship without understanding responsibilities, similar to how young leaders approach new positions
• Confidence without competence leads to poor decisions, as shown in Simba's dangerous adventures
• Scar's "Be Prepared" leadership appeals to dissatisfaction rather than inspiring improvement
• Running from responsibility (Hakuna Matata) might feel like paradise but keeps us from our true purpose
• True leadership requires accepting both the glory and the weight of responsibility
• Our identity and leadership formation are shaped by who we allow to speak into our lives
• Sometimes we operate in our gifts (being a lion) while avoiding our assignment (being king)
Share with a friend and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We're looking forward to the next time when we are able to unlearn together to move forward towards freedom.
Hello everybody and welcome once again to the Unlearned Podcast. I'm your host, ruth Abigail, aka RA. What's up, friends? It's your girl, jaquita, and this is the podcast that is helping you gain the courage to change your mind so that you can experience more freedom.
Speaker 2:My Lord, freedom, listen, listen. We still out here in these summertime streets. Okay, another episode for y'all. Today is going to be a good time Summertime.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, I'm not going to give y'all no one, and the living is easy. I'm not going to be the same. Uh-uh, no, come on, that's. Living is easy. We have a game. I'm not just the singer.
Speaker 2:Uh-uh, no, come on, that's all you get. That's all you get, all right, all right, see, and this is why I should be the singer in the duo, okay.
Speaker 1:I want you to go back to the episodes where Quinta was singing.
Speaker 2:At least I finished the songs.
Speaker 1:And then rewind and say which one you would prefer to hear Next episode.
Speaker 2:we're having a singing contest. Oh, Don't play with me.
Speaker 1:Do not play with me. We might do it on this one, because this particular movie that we're about to get into is dope, top tier, top tier, top tier, friends, top tier.
Speaker 2:Top tier. So you know, just because it's coming to my mind, and we never do it at the beginning of the episode yes, hey, friends, hey, all right, we're in the summertime series, we're giving y'all the vibes. Okay, you ought to come to the party, come to the cookout. All right, come on and like, share and subscribe.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yes, yes, and be a part of the movement. Yes.
Speaker 2:Okay, share a with a friend and we really want to hear from y'all in the comments. You know I love when people you know got things to say thank you all. You all been sharing the videos. You have seen it, we've been seeing it. When I see it as somebody else's story, because Instagram doesn't always tell you like when it's been shared. You know, like it's just I'm scrolling and I'm like you kind of see it. Right, right so listen, we love y'all, we appreciate y'all. Thanks for rocking with us, hanging with us.
Speaker 1:All that. Okay, so we're going to each sing the one line from our favorite song of this movie. You ready? I'm going to go first. Be prepared.
Speaker 2:Be prepared, be prepared, be prepared. I really hope this is your last time doing that. Okay, I really hope it will not be All right, I'm going to give it away with mine, okay? So, Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase.
Speaker 1:Hakuna Matata ain't no passing parade. Is that what it is? Is that what?
Speaker 2:the line is okay, that's one of the lines you know they do a couple of very. Anyways, friends, we're talking about the lion king, like okay, I know classic, classic. Okay, this is what to me, this is what started the disney like movie empire, that like was our childhood, like you know, like there were other movies, but I feel like the lion king was, was the movie? Is that true? Did it come?
Speaker 1:out before the little mermaid. I think so. I think it did. I think you're right. I think so, maybe, yeah, no, yeah, no, it did not, it did not, it did not come out. Producer Joy saying it did not come out before Little Mermaid.
Speaker 2:We're going to fact check that I do have to disagree with you because Little Mermaid I don't know, even if the Little Mermaid came out, I wasn't really into the Little Mermaid. Okay, so maybe I'm speaking from my own personal experience, but Lion King was just that movie Lord. Okay, it came out, did not come out before the Little Mermaid at all. It was 1989. Was the Little Mermaid? Oh, yeah, wow. But I do think you're right, it put Disney.
Speaker 1:It did put it at a different level, I agree. I think it's a better movie. It had a gravitas, you know. Yeah, mufasa, muf her, yeah, mufasa listen.
Speaker 2:Okay, wait a minute before we, before we get into it. Okay, it's not a song in the movie, but if all of you knew that the new mufasa, the new like the background story, but that Anne Pierre, that Mufasa, anne Pierre, let me tell you something. Okay, put J-Hud on the map. That's true, they had to turn the comments off because y'all are crazy. Y'all are absolutely bananas and some of you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Speaker 1:I'll be honest, I really didn't. I didn't. I didn't get it like I I'm not getting into this with her. I'm not getting into this, I still don't I mean, I'm not saying he's not a, I'm not, we're not we're not doing this, all right, we're not doing this.
Speaker 2:We're not doing this, we'll move on. You're not gonna disrespect?
Speaker 1:but, but um, but he did play that and he did play. He did a great job in mufasa. We love Mufasa. If you haven't seen Mufasa, you should go see it. It's a great movie, you should absolutely go see Mufasa, it really puts this movie into perspective it really does and I think it really.
Speaker 1:It does a really good job of honoring the classic by having to. By what am I trying to say? Honoring the classic by showing us some things. I'm trying by showing us some things that we maybe didn't think about right, some different perspectives of different characters. So it's I think it's really good. Whatever I was going to say before I got tripped up was going to be a lot better than that. Think it's really good. Whatever I was going to say before I got tripped up was going to be a lot better than that, but it's all good.
Speaker 2:I'm sure you know, I think one thing that I love about the Lion King, you know, and all the Disney movies, the movies we grew up with okay, listen, classic, yeah, man, top tier. Okay, we could do a whole Disney series, we, top tier. Okay, we could do a whole disney series. We really all right, we're gonna put a pin in that y'all uh, catch us next summer. All right, stay tuned. Um that would, that would hit, that would really I love disney.
Speaker 2:Disney is nice but I think the thing about the lion king is that it showcases, for the purposes of our podcast, amen, all right, it showcases leadership and themes of unlearning. Yes, so profoundly. You know like it is like the, the visual journey of watching, you know, a young, let's say 20 something year old, although he was a child, right, but it goes through the journey of going from child to you know, to King to King.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, it gives you the whole thing of how that happens and everything that I think that we talk about, from going from young adulthood the middle adulthood. I'm like it's there, yeah, it's there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, it's, it's, uh, it is, and I think, and what I, what we're going to, you know we're going to go through it and I think the thing that I, when you first they set it up right, they set the movie up beautifully by just explaining the world in a way that is like everything has a purpose and everything comes to an end. Yeah, and they start off with that right. The circle of life.
Speaker 2:You're welcome.
Speaker 1:Sorry, you're going to be hearing this throughout the entire show. So it really this idea of the circle of life. I mean, we were kids and we're listening to this, we're singing this. We have no clue the depth of what that meant. I love the part where he's taking Simba and he's showing him the pride. He's showing them the pride lens and he's talking about the antelope and how they eat the antelope, and so I'm trying to remember the exact line, but I can't right now. But they're having this conversation and his father explains, like you know, that we eat the antelope but when we die, essentially we turn into grass and the antelope eats us. So there is not a, it's not a hierarchy we're not.
Speaker 1:We're not above each other we work. It's a circle. It's not a ladder. And so it through that, through that, through that. That presentation in the very beginning yeah, they are talking about leadership as a circle. Yeah, not a ladder, not not, I climb up on top of you. Oh, that's so good, but we all affect each other, so we all have to learn how to work together, and so that's then, of course, juxtaposed by, you know, by Scar and his mentality, right.
Speaker 2:It's a ladder mentality.
Speaker 2:It's a ladder, ooh, wee. Okay, just so we're clear about how we're going to move through this movie guys, all right, if you know anything about the Lion King, the soundtrack was banging. Okay. Some of us know these songs word for word. Okay, a little fifth grade Jaquita, that Akuna Matata, okay, had me on lock, right. But we are going to take five of the top songs from the movie and really flesh them out and think about the themes that hit sort of some of our topics with leadership, with unlearning, with becoming with identity and leadership formation. So we're gonna hit those. So Ruth already started a little bit with the circle of life, that circle versus ladder thing. That is so deep and I think that it changes the way that we see ambition Absolutely. Ambition is not to go up, it's to go around, it's to go?
Speaker 1:Yes, it's. Yes, it's to take. It's your turn. When is it my turn? It's a you, you, you, wait your turn, yeah.
Speaker 2:And it becomes about contributing versus overseeing.
Speaker 1:That's correct.
Speaker 2:You know, like I'm not over something, I'm in it. I'm in it. And when you think of leadership as being a role that that is encompassing, you know everybody has a place and a position in the circle.
Speaker 2:And we're all feeding into each other versus. I got to climb up this ladder and I'm willing to kick you down to get up there, yep, just so that I can be at the top. Yeah, you know, I think. I think that it's a beautiful display of how we, how we essentially have to grow into thinking that leadership is about community and not about ambition.
Speaker 1:And you know, I think this idea of to your point, we are, uh, we are contributing to something you are, it doesn't. It highlights the idea of not, not, not a position, but roles Everybody has a role to play and the fact that we are all, no matter what, that is right. You are all. You are a small piece to a big puzzle and it's like you are, you got. We have to remember that, like we're a small piece to a big puzzle, whether it's in your own house, you're a small piece to a to a to a bigger puzzle, right, a larger puzzle of your, of your family, of your community. We're that way in in our greater society. We're that way with the universe. Right, we are small and we're a small piece to a bigger puzzle and a bigger plan. And so this idea that if we can get caught up in position which takes you above the puzzle, above the plan, and that you can't function that because you can't be above and beyond what you didn't create, you didn't create the picture.
Speaker 1:Therefore, you can't dictate the picture from outside of the picture. You were in the picture, no but you're hitting.
Speaker 2:You're hitting the point that was that was kind of starting to bubble up. Is that the difference between mufasa and Simba we'll talk about Scar in a minute is that when you know the history of a thing, you're able to better put things in context. And because Mufasa especially if you've seen the movie knew the history of the place, he was able to put himself in context. You know like he has lived part of that bigger picture. Yeah, simba has not lived any of the picture. So when he thinks about things like king and authority and you know positioning, he's thinking.
Speaker 2:This is how I can only see the world, according to how I have lived in it, and a lot of times, I think, in our 20s, as young leaders emerging leaders, if you will, because I wasn't always a leader, you know it took me living in it in order to grow into it, but as young leaders, we often see things like you know, let's just be real A lot of us wanted leadership positions to get more money, absolutely. You know what I'm saying. Why do you want to be a leader? I want to make more money?
Speaker 1:I don't. I don't want people telling me what to do. I don't want people telling me what to do. I don't?
Speaker 2:you know? I don't want to be at the bottom of something. Sorry, I saw some neck popping. I don't want to be at the bottom of something, you know.
Speaker 2:I want to. I want people. When I had my first real professional job, I felt like I was always saying I need them to see what I bring to the table. You know like I want to use my gifts and my talents and I really disliked the job I was in and every time a job that I would be halfway interested came in I would apply and that company would not give me an interview because they said you have to perfect the role you're in, which was the introductory role. We have to see that you can perfect that before we can move you up. And eventually I left. I was like introductory role we have to see that you can perfect that before we can move you up.
Speaker 2:And I eventually I left. I was like bye, I'm going to go somewhere where my talents are appreciated. But it was the moment I left I said this is bittersweet because I was in a place of preparation that I did not appreciate and we don't always appreciate the places that build and mold us.
Speaker 1:Yes, and can I say? I want to say this, this this is interesting we don't. What Simba had, that a lot of people aren't necessarily privileged to have, is to be raised by a leader. And I think, and I will say from my experience in that and I and I attribute this to my parents, I really do, cause I I attribute so much to them, but I attribute this to my parents because, you know, both of them led organizations and my father was a leader of a church and organization, and so I grew up with people who I was, I was, I saw leadership and I understood, they made me understand the value of playing your role when it's time to play your role and not looking for a position.
Speaker 1:And so when I got into the, when I got into the space, the professional world, I didn't really pay attention so much to position as much as I'm just working, I'm just here to work. They taught me how to work and I think what ended up happening was other people began to what. I took me years to see a leader in myself. And I will say the way, the way I have identified with Simba which of course we'll get to later is running away from that, because I also saw the responsibility of it. I'm good, Just put me to work, I can work, I do whatever you want me to do?
Speaker 1:Put me to work. I don't want to lead, I just want to work. Now, that doesn't. I'm not that's not me saying that leaders don't work, but the idea of I didn't want to be in a position. I have to make decisions, have have responsibility, um, have to be, have to kind of be this, this example of something that is submitted to something larger like and I and, and you know, have to be in the spotlight, and all the things that I eventually did move into. But it wasn't a desire, because I think I saw what it, what it was, and I was like I'm good, I don't want that, um, I think.
Speaker 1:But but what simba? Also the of? So I guess there was a pros and cons to that. But I think the benefit of being up under whether it's in your home or a mentor or somebody that you're very close to, who has a leadership role and a leadership position, is that you see, you don't you see the um, the, the, that it's not the uh. They can correct your vision of it on the spot, as as Mufasa did with Simba. It is not about being on top, it's about understanding what role you play in this circle. And so, immediately he's getting, he's getting instruction. Where it takes a lot of us years to get through experience Right and so you can get further with instruction and coaching. Where, like, you can get further faster with instruction and coaching.
Speaker 1:Where, it takes people experience for years to learn something, and if you are privileged to have somebody that that can do that we're wise to pay attention to it can do that, we're wise to pay attention to it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I will also say you know, simba, that there there is a benefit. You know, fathers give direction and give uh and help to shape our understanding of the world in that way.
Speaker 2:You know, and I think that for some of us, you know, like cause, as you were thinking, I was like you know, what did I get, you know from my family? And you know, I got my mom, my grandparents, especially my grandfather, you know, very entrepreneurial hustlers. We're going to work and you know, in my mind I was like to get a thing I got to work, a thing you know. And so it wasn't. There wasn't a lot of teaching and coaching, because there was always a lot of doing. Sure, you know what I'm saying. And so I think that the idea of teaching and coaching for me was something that I had to learn to adopt, Because anytime that I felt like I was in a space where I had to be taught or I had to be coached, I felt like I wasn't performing. And so the teaching and coaching, when someone was like, hey, you need to X, y and Z, immediately I had to fight these feelings of you haven't worked hard enough, are you not doing what you're supposed to do? Are you not good enough?
Speaker 2:And I think that a lot of us are turning away from teaching and coaching because there's something in, there's something else inside of you that is battling. Receiving from someone else, that's good, you know, and you have to. You have to know what that is so that you can. You can get what God has prepared for you, because he will send people in your life that will want to pour and mentor, like you know, and it doesn't have to be it's not always a steady relationship like Simba had. Sometimes it's an encounter with someone who who has been put there to pull you to your next place, but we don't receive because of what we're feeling and what we're battling with internally. And the more again we preach self-awareness a lot, the more aware you become that.
Speaker 2:What is making me fight against the mentorship and the coaching that the Lord has sent? I just want to really emphasize that, because there's a lot of people out here talking and there's a lot of people who want to instruct and speak into your life, but you also have to be able to discern, ok, which, which ones did the Lord send and which ones are, are, are the many voices? That's in the air as well, and so I think, really, if you are a person who struggles with instruction and coaching, and it's not because you don't want to be coached. It's just that something in you rises up every time someone tries to help you. I really want you to examine that and say okay, what is it that causes me to fight against the wisdom that God sent that's really good, and I think you made that point about feeling like.
Speaker 1:it's almost like coaching and teaching is, when somebody does that feeling like you have done something, your inadequacy is showing. Right, you've done something poorly, and I do. I think you're right. I think that is something that we have to unlearn, that that's not true. Like that's not true. We need to embrace the benefit of instruction before experience teaches us.
Speaker 1:It just takes longer and you can grow faster with the right instruction. That's what I mean. Coaching and professional coaching. I mean I have benefited so much by professional coaches, informal coaching, by people. I'm just like it just takes 30 seconds of something I didn't know. Okay, I just had that experience. The other day I was with a fundraising coach. We talked for an hour. What they said in the first five minutes I'd have paid for. We're good. I mean that right, there was like, oh, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I had no idea, and so it just shifted my whole way of thinking and it shifted my energy. Like I was putting my energy in all this other stuff, but I need to put it here. Great, you know what I'm saying. It's everything. So, like, yeah, it's important.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I think you have to flip your mindset from thinking that people think that I'm not good enough. You have to flip that to people think that what's in me is so great that they're willing to invest in it. That's right, and I think if you flip that mindset you'll be more open.
Speaker 1:So, moving to the the next, the next, y'all ain't no lion king with that deep thing, the circle of life thing I'm saying it got us caught up.
Speaker 1:Hey, that's real man. Um, all right, so let's talk about what happens next. So we have Zazu, who, who is kind of charged with being Simba's handler, really, which he doesn't like, and so the scene. Of course, we know the song. Oh, I just can't wait to be to be king, okay, uh, and so that's the jam. That's the jam, I mean, that's the jam. Um, so, so this, this, this, I mean that I love just the title of the song. I just can't wait to be king, like it's just so funny because it's like if you only knew, if you knew, if you knew like you would wait.
Speaker 1:You will wait. Like you would wait, you will wait. You'll be like I'm good, I don't think, but it's the idea of what kingship is.
Speaker 2:Yes, Right, Because I think even throughout the song you know everything that he sings about is about how being a king will benefit him. That's right, you know. No one's saying do this.
Speaker 1:No one's saying be there, you know stop everywhere.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know standing in the spotlight you know like he is like man king looks great Because of the benefits package. Yes, see, that's what happens Because of the benefits package. That's what happens when you start looking at the next position. This is what we all do. Even to this day, I still do this, my Lord. You start looking, and you know you looking through the job description. How many of you go down to the bottom first to see where the salary at, before you even look at?
Speaker 1:what the job?
Speaker 2:requires.
Speaker 1:Hilarious.
Speaker 2:You scrolling down saying what are the benefits? Okay, we all go looking for benefits before we go looking for requirements for job. That's good For the job, for the position description.
Speaker 1:That's absolutely true.
Speaker 2:That's absolutely true, you know because everything he said had nothing to do with the position description. That's good For the job, for the position description. That's absolutely true. That's absolutely true, you know, because everything he said had nothing to do with the position description. That's correct, Like it was nothing about having to, like you know, take care of people, having to oversee operations.
Speaker 1:Making hard decisions and, you know, having to, yeah, like having to be responsible. No, none of that. None of that, none of that.
Speaker 2:So often in those early young adult years, we made moves based off of the benefits package. Right, you're like, listen, this job paying more, and they got me twisted up in this job I'm at now, okay, I'm out. You know, and I think that we don't always, we're always, uh it. I think it's just kind of like just human nature to think, okay, what am I going to get out of this move? Yeah, to think of that first, before you think what is this move going to pull out of? Require of mandate of me, right, and, and that that's some young leader stuff, right, that is okay, it is that's some young leader. Thinking, right, there, it is right because we make moves, because, also, as a young person, you know, sit around there, pouncing all over the place, running all over the place, feeling like he can go anywhere and do anything, even though his daddy told him to stay in the light, walk in the light.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's not a part of the sound.
Speaker 2:That's all he had to do, though, yeah, you're right, you're right, you're right. That's all he had to do. But, like when you're young, you feel limitless.
Speaker 1:Yes, you feel limitless. Yes, you feel that you feel limitless, I can do, I'm gonna be king. What y'all talking about, you know. I like this idea, the benefit package, because what this, this is and I'm just this is the I when I think, when I look at a benefit package as when the seat I'm sitting in, I think about how much it's going to cost me Come on here. And so what we don't realize is the king creates the package.
Speaker 2:That's what your job is.
Speaker 1:But if you're thinking so much of how it's going to benefit you. You actually aren't. That's not king, that's not leadership, that's not the. The question is where the package come from, and that's where you are about to go. Is you have to be prepared to create packages for other people and that is a totally, and so what that means is you have to weigh costs over value all the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And and and and weigh stuff that other people don't have to weigh. And so I think, like the way he's thinking is really it's you're. You're not thinking like somebody who creates a package, you're looking at what the package is and you're you're. And so I think that's as a as a young leader, which I understand. I mean we all did it, like you said, we're all. It's like I want to. What, what's in this? What this, what's this move going to do? What do I get? You know, my thing was really less about the amount of money and more about the amount of freedom I had, so, like, could I do other things? Can I explore? Can I leave when I want to leave? Can I create my own schedule?
Speaker 2:Right, that's what can I get there when I want to get there?
Speaker 1:That's what I be thinking about.
Speaker 2:I'll stay as long as it takes. Oh, I'm so the opposite, but please don't make me get there at 7.30 in the morning.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'll get there as early as you want me to get. I'm leaving. If I could leave at noon or 1 o'clock.
Speaker 2:oh, that's amazing, and you know that is the majority of the people that I work with, like that I have worked with in my lifetime actually, but I like round out like 130. I'm kicking in, I'm like let me hit these emails. Oh, that's you know and. I know the the people be like we've been waiting all day for this guy and I'm like I just didn't have it that is funny.
Speaker 1:So you gotta know yourself. You gotta know yourself, um, but I think that that that that's the. That was, that was what it was for me. And but as I, as I, as I got, like you said, the requirements and yeah, as you, as you develop more responsibility, you do a lot of times get more of that. But the requirements are I sometimes I'm up at 10 or 11 o'clock at night Cause I can't sleep, cause I make this decision that's going to affect my team and I don't know how I'm up at 10 or 11 o'clock at night because I can't sleep, because I make this decision that's going to affect my team and I don't know how I'm going to tell them right, or I'm going to.
Speaker 1:I have to figure out, I have to make this budget work. You know what I'm saying and I don't quite know how to do it. Like I got more expenses than I'm tracking income and I got to figure out another way to get this money Right, and so that's. That is not something that you can. That's part of that cost package that we don't. We don't always consider when we're talking about elevating in our leadership. And so with with Simba, he didn't have, he didn't have the. He didn't have the maturity to get there, he wasn't there. And that's where the benefit of having a father who's leading you and who you need to listen to a father, mentor, supporter, coach whatever that can help you understand.
Speaker 1:This is not about what you get. This is about what you have. This is about what you have to give up. You have to give. Are you prepared to give to the level of a leader?
Speaker 2:and I think that that was when they were practicing, you know, pouncing and what she's trying to say.
Speaker 1:People is roar.
Speaker 2:Roar.
Speaker 1:Roar.
Speaker 2:No, because it's when you put the I-N-G on it. Okay, roaring, roaring, roaring.
Speaker 1:There you go. There it is, oh man. One more time, I promise no leave me alone.
Speaker 2:Okay, when he was practicing his roar, okay, that felt good. There you go. I love how it becomes. It becomes a symbol in the movie, though, yes, like. It's like you ain't. You haven't really developed. You know like, and and your. I think the haven't really developed. You know like, and and your. I think the roar is really about how you um it. It's because it has a purpose, right, like. You want to use it for your own self-recognition, your own, you know, ability to stand out and and and your ability to pronounce to everybody I'm the king, I'm the person y'all need to listen to. You want to use it for that, but it's not. It comes through a character development process, and a lot of times I think in our younger years we spend a lot of time honing our talents and not a lot of time building our character, and the movie shows like there is a difference between you know, your ability to be a lion and your ability to be a king.
Speaker 2:And I think the movie really juxtaposes that as we look at the life of Simba. You can be who you are. You are a lion, right, and in every instance of your life you're going to show up as a lion. But to become a king is going to require a level of sacrifice and a level of intentionality that you are going to have to set yourself to, and I think that that's what Ruth Abigail and I both realized, as leaders Like you can be good at your job, but to be a leader, you are going to have to be intentional and you are going to have to sacrifice.
Speaker 1:Yes, you are, yes, yeah, and I think, I think you know the great, uh, the great James Earl Jones.
Speaker 2:Okay, come on. Come on First of all, one time, the great James.
Speaker 1:Earl Jones, come on One time for the great James.
Speaker 2:Earl Jones man. One time for the great late James.
Speaker 1:Earl Jones.
Speaker 2:You really could not have found anybody else to voice Mufasa Mufasa. Like you know, when Mufasa showed up on the scene, he was the gravitas of the movie and Rafiki, you know. Rafiki was.
Speaker 2:Rafiki was also super deep, you know he was he was but Mufasa, the foundation of the movie, and it was his voice that we were kind of hearing in the background through every move that the movie made Right, and I think that it was so pivotal when you think about I just can't wait to be king. You know, simba had a picture of a king but he did not yet have the have the lived experience of one and to that we see that, as we see that in the scene like that's.
Speaker 2:That's exemplify in the scene where he and Nala go to the elephant yard, elephant grave graveyard and thank you, um, and they the the shadow lands right and um, okay, all right, if it ain't the shadow of the almighty, I don't want it oh god help, huh, okay, okay, uh.
Speaker 1:so they go there and, of course, the hyenas are there and they are, you know, into your what. Like you said, queda, you know Simba's a lion. He's like you know, I'm I'm a lion and I can go wherever I want. I can go where I want, I can like, I'm not afraid of you, that kind of thing. And so he tries to prove that. So one of the I think it's a beautiful thing, but it's just underdeveloped is that, because somebody does know who he is, and this is, he knows who he is and at this point he's clear on who he is, because of who he's connected to his father.
Speaker 1:And because he does that he shows up with a level of confidence that seems misplaced. Why are you so confident? And that's where that roar comes from. He roars because he's confident, but the problem is he doesn't have the competence that comes from lived experience. Right, you got confidence but no competence and so the confidence of young, young leaders have a lot of confidence. I had a lot of confidence. I've I've always had a lot of confidence, right, but what happens is that that confidence is not able to take you through um conflict.
Speaker 2:You have to have competence, you have to be competent hold up, hold up, hold up, because you didn't add that conflict in at first when we, when we first talked about this okay, you didn't put another, you didn't put a little sauce on it now, so you got to break that down, I don't you?
Speaker 1:made it saucy. I don't be giving you all my stuff in the pre-meeting, so, um, no, but. But. But when you see that the conflict when you are, when the confidence works until you have a problem to solve. And now I have to know something like it's not just about how I show up, it's not just about my roar. It's about what's in my mind, what's in my head and so he.
Speaker 1:He didn't listen to his father. His father knew you ain't ready for that son. He didn't listen to his father. His father knew you ain't ready for that son and he didn't listen to him. Because he's confident. All right, that's cool, I'm going. Well, I'm going anyway because I'm confident. But you don't have the knowledge your father has to know. Don't go. And so that that's so you. You have to be, you have to be aware that your influence can only go as far as your competence. Yeah, and if you have all the influence in the world, but it stops at your level of competence, but see that's the difference between people who talk a big game and the people who follow through For sure.
Speaker 2:And you know, we all know the person who sorry, I just my mind flashed back as a leader. Let's flip it a little bit. Let's talk about from the perspective of being a leader, and you're looking at your team, you're looking at the people that it's your job to mold and shape. You have to be able Ooh, child, sorry, it's all coming back to me you have to be able to delineate the people who have the confidence versus the people who have the competence and the ones who are willing to learn, absolutely Because you're.
Speaker 2:The thing about Simba is is that he refused to be teachable? Yeah, he was like hey, I got refused to be teachable. Yeah, he was like hey, listen, I already got it. Pops, that's it. That's it. Yeah, you know. So, like, let me just roll over here and show you that I have it. Yep, and you always want. You want someone to prove to you that you need to be taught, yep, instead of keeping your heart in a place where you're always open to receive. Keeping your heart in a place where you're always open to receive, because here's the thing, and as a leader.
Speaker 2:You have to be able to discern who's who and how you are going to help them navigate through their Simba stage, through their young Simba stage. You have to be able to dictate okay, this one is all talk, but no follow through. This one is follow through. Has all the talents, the gifts and the skill sets to get to the place, but isn't confident in themselves. And here is the person that has enough humility to learn the competencies right. You have to know who's on your team, and I think the thing that needs to be reiterated when we get to the next song, which is Be Prepared, which is like be prepared. Sorry, it had to happen right then, because she did that in the middle of me talking. Y'all was going to see me go at it, right, but the thing is, is that the reason why it's so important that you know, that you know who's competent, who's confident and who's teachable, is because there's always a nefarious plan being made that could essentially break your team down.
Speaker 1:Look at you, look what you did, and look at the pivot. Look at the pivot. Oh yeah, I like it, I like it. That was good, that was good. Look at the pivot. Look at the pivot, I like it, I like it, that was good, that was good, yeah, I felt it.
Speaker 2:I felt it and so you have to your team, your team, walking how they walk. You know, mufasa, it was. Mufasa has to know who's who's in his land. He has to know who everyone really is and what's really going down. I remember when I would tell my team I could, I could feel it in the air when something was about to happen. You know, it's not because somebody told me, it's not because I went to a secret meeting that they weren't a part of. It's because I, as a leader, had to be aware of the intentions and the plans and the scope. I had to be aware of a larger scope so that I could fully prepare my team for what was preparing for them. Oh Lord, Right, and there was a plan being made against Simba. And because he was not prepared, because he walked in there confident but not competent, he got caught up in the middle of what was going to take him down. Man.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about being prepared.
Speaker 2:So I almost did it.
Speaker 1:Oh, see, see, you see you see, you see. So Scar obviously is the antagonist in this film, and Scar is. He has a plan, he knows what he wants and he's going to go after it, and what we often don't do is meet moments, like Quida just said, that are prepared for us with just as much preparation and so-.
Speaker 2:Ooh, wait a minute, Sorry. I really hope y'all heard that the moment, because it can be seen. It can be interpreted both in the light of you know, there's something that's being prepared against you, but there's also something that's being prepared for you. That's right, and if you would allow yourself to focus on who God is preparing you to become, what's being prepared against you won't prosper, that's right, and you'll still walk into what's prepared for you, man. But you have to. You have to, you have to submit to the process.
Speaker 1:You have to submit to the part of the movie where Scar is king, simba has left right and he's the king, but nobody has any food. They are restless, they don't know Like. Things are in a bad state and what we? What we see is Scar was prepared to get the crown, but he was not prepared to lead. Um, he was prepared to be in charge, but he wasn't prepared to lead. And so the question is, how do we avoid that? Because a lot of us, we like this idea.
Speaker 1:I had this moment. I got to be honest. This is going to be a transparent moment. I wasn't sure if I was going to share this or not, but I am, because this is just going to. It's a little peek into the part of me that I have to keep in check. Somebody said something like I was in this meeting the other day and they called me, I think, chief financial officer or chief financial, chief fundraiser, chief fundraiser, chief, something. They use the word chief. Here's what's it like. I don't. Sometimes I forget that I do have the ego. Let me just be real. And when I heard the word chief something, triggered my ego.
Speaker 1:It triggered it. I don't call, I don't call, I don't use that language, but that's that's the language they use. Wasn't no big deal. They were just saying it, you know, cause that's the language they use. But it triggered me and I was like Ooh. But it triggered me and I was like Ooh.
Speaker 1:You need to check, keep that in check, because I in my, in, in, in, in a less mature version of myself and and and a less, um, spiritually mature version of myself. I can let that get to my head and and realize, like, um, my um, what, what I'm, what I'm seeking after, is that kind of uh designation, right, and that, and that's not that. But that's not what leadership is about. And sometimes you, you have to be aware of uh, like, like we say all the time. You have to be self-aware to understand what triggers you Like, what, what thing? When you hear that, what, when you hear, when you hear certain words, certain ideas, what triggers you to say, ooh, there's something about that. That's like that. That excites me, but not maybe for the right reason.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Um, and and be aware of that because, uh, that that's going to help you. So how do you? How do you prepare to lead? Not just prepare to be in charge, not just prepare to hold the benefits of a title. How do you prepare to lead? Not just prepare to be in charge, not just prepare to hold the benefits of a title. How do you prepare to lead?
Speaker 1:Three things, real simple, and Queen of Kitties found it, but I'm going to break it down real quick. First thing is you have to begin by following. You need to follow a leader. If you want to lead, but to have not do, have not been properly led, you will not lead well. The second one is know why you want to be a leader. If you want to be a leader so that you can be in charge, you might want to check that, check it. You might want to check that, uh, that, that, that won't, that won't last long. So you need to know why. And then you need to determine the who. In other words, who are you in it for? Are you in it for you? Are you in it for? Are you in it for you? Are you in it for other people? If you haven't followed a leader if you are unsure of your why and if you're really in it for yourself, you need to stop.
Speaker 2:Stop pursuing leadership yeah stop listen it'll it'll crush you.
Speaker 1:It's not for you right now yes, it's not for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at this moment right at this moment because I think so. There's so many things. I'm gonna go back to the, the ladder versus the circle, um, because I think that that's what trips scar up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, is that he was so focused on looking at the top of that ladder that he never looked around Right, and so he wasn't building what was going to go around him as king, he was just building what he saw up there was him sitting at the top. Yes, right, and I think that there's so many areas of our life where we build the picture that we see that but not the whole puzzle. Like you're focused on one piece, like I can't wait till I get this piece, wait till I, wait till I get this piece, and you get the piece, but you're not aware that it's just a piece. It's just a piece. It's just a piece and you have made this piece, the entire picture, when there are 500 other pieces to the puzzle that that you now are responsible for because you put yourself at the top, right. So he made all these promises of hey, listen, you know, be prepared. And that be prepared song. He was like hey, listen, come with me, you'll never be hungry again. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1:That's what he said.
Speaker 2:That's what he said I'm going to give y'all all the power, all the joy. It's going to be a great time, you know, especially, he was talking to a disgruntled people. There you go, who are you talking to and what are you appealing to in them? That's right, right. If the only way you sorry, it'll take you back, it'll take you back, I promise you. If the only way that you are able to gain leadership is by pulling on, uh, on the dissatisfaction of people, and you make these promises, that I will make you. I will make you happier, and not I will make you better. Yeah.
Speaker 1:If that's the promise you're making as a leader.
Speaker 2:Let me tell you something Go ahead and pack that on up. Pack it up. You are not, first of of all, if a people is already dissatisfied, meaning that they are not already seeking answers to their own problems, but they are. They are content with laying in in, uh, with laying in the confusion of their complaints. Yeah right, like they like the comfort of complaining and you say that's who you want to be king of, that's who you want to lead, that's who you want to influence, that's who you want to put in position. Let me tell you something, baby, you are building an empire that will remain dissatisfied with anything that you do, and that's why Scar found himself in a place where you fought so hard to become this person that still nobody likes. Yeah right, they still don't like you.
Speaker 2:That's right they didn't like you when you was over there in the elephant bones. They don't like you. When you king, they don't like you.
Speaker 2:They don't like you Even the people that you brought with you now, don't like you and they don't respect you and they don't like you and they don't respect you and they don't respect you because, however you go about getting those positions you will have, you're gonna, you're not gonna be able to break that personality with people. No, you know what I'm saying and so I think it's so important when we think about, uh, the be prepared. You know, like you have to be mindful of what you're preparing for. Yeah, right, and I think you know. One of the most obvious examples to me is you know they tell, like you have to be mindful of what you're preparing for. Yeah, right, and I think you know one of the most obvious examples to me is you know they tell people, don't focus so much on the wedding as you do the marriage, the union, the marriage, the life. Amen, you're not.
Speaker 2:You're not, you know, planning a wedding. You're building a life together, a life together, um, and I think that we get, um, we get so caught up in, we get so caught up in the thing that we want. You know I'm, um, you know, elder, millennial over here. All right, don't need to keep putting out ages. You know 38, but no need to keep putting out ages, you know, but like I could, I could take marriage and see it as I can, make that my end goal. You know, like, hey, I just I gotta get to it, I got, I gotta have it, I gotta have it. But you are going to find yourself, um, you're going to find yourself with that thing and still feeling the same feelings that you feel on the side. That's it, because you have to question.
Speaker 2:I think now is a good time, middle adults, now is a good time when you think about the song Be Prepared. It's time to question ourselves what have we been preparing for? Have you been preparing for a wedding? Have you been preparing for a marriage? That's good. Have you been preparing for a wedding? Have you been preparing for a marriage? That's good. Have you been preparing for true leadership, or have you been preparing for a position? Have you been preparing for a title? Or have you been preparing for calling, assignment and purpose? Yep, right. And I think now is just a really good time for us to really question that, so that we can make the necessary pivots, so that we live a life that's still impactful and influential and we don't end up running away from it like somebody.
Speaker 1:Look at you. Look at you, I'm full of transition. Look at you with the pivots I'm full of them, come on, I'm full of them, come on, let's take that.
Speaker 2:turn them, let's take that turn let's go ahead and take that turn, let's take that turn because Simba ran away.
Speaker 1:Simba was scared. Let's give Simba some credit. Simba saw his daddy die and Simba said uh, uh, uh, uh, no, I ain't gonna be me, I'm gonna go and so, and I think grief took him.
Speaker 1:You know there's a. I mean let's, can we just? I mean going back when I'm like going back to watching that I it wasn't until I was older watching it like don't, I began to be uncomfortable with that scene. Like I said, I don't, I don't want to see this Like this is. This is like yeah, like it's hard to watch that. It's hard, you know you, and it's like man, that is some heavy.
Speaker 1:going back to what we said, this is why this movie is so, because the heaviness of that moment I mean he, his father, was killed by his brother and his son saw it and well, he saw him die and see, you killed him, but he did see him die, yeah, and you know, and it's like, what does a child do? What, what, what? We trauma, what do you? What is the first thing you do? You run, you find, you find a way to escape, and so what, but I think it's, it's so critical that we go back.
Speaker 2:It may not have happened like that for us, but you have to go back and say where in my life did trauma cause me to run, Like something in me escaped, ran, built up structures. You know, like they say, like you have the fight or flight. Some of us are fighting through what others may have ran from and you feel better about yourself because you fought it. Sure, but really you did not fight the thing. You built up structures, mentalities, personalities that are still trying to protect you from what happened.
Speaker 1:That's it.
Speaker 1:That's right, you're you're, that's it. Yeah, you're you're. We have different ways of escape, like, there's different methods of it and it looks different for everybody, but it's the, the, the, the. The ultimate point is we don't, we don't sit in. Nobody wants to sit in that kind of tragedy and trauma. So our first inclination is to go. So we go, go away, like, and he physically just ran away.
Speaker 1:And so I think it's important to know what your tendencies are Like when you are um. And here's what's interesting you put yourself in um. I think, for people who are leaders, who are positioned to lead and to lead well, when something happens that they don't expect, what do you do? What do you do? And for me, I was a runner, I'm a runner, I'm going to run and I'm going to escape and I'm going to go somewhere else. And for, like, for me, I ran away from leadership for years because I just had no interest in um. I didn't want to be, I didn't want to be in the spotlight, I didn't want to be seen, I wanted to hide when I wanted to hide, and so for for a long time, even though it was, it was clearer to other people, I found my way around leadership somehow, and it didn't look bad. Simba didn't run into, he didn't go and get on drugs, he went to paradise. He went to a land where he could do what he wanted to do.
Speaker 2:Goodness. He went and he found friends he found a community, there's always going to be somebody that's going to support you, not rising up to who you're actually supposed to be.
Speaker 1:But he didn't know, they didn't know they didn't know.
Speaker 2:They didn't know that because they were thinking about what he could do for them. Yeah, there's like hey yo, we need a lion on us. You know what I'm saying? We're prey out here to have a, to have the king of the jungle rolling with us, and there are people in your life who know that without you they would be eaten, wow. And so they keep you in low places to protect themselves.
Speaker 1:You said something in the in the uh when we were meeting earlier about this idea of um. He was able to be in his gift but not in position.
Speaker 2:There you go. Yeah, he's in his gift, but not in his assignment. Because he's, because he's still a lion, except for now he's digging up bugs. Yeah, and so what's in you? If you are a leader, you will find yourself in some sort of position, but you can be in a position, but still out of position. You can be in a role, you can be in a place, operating in a function, but not where you're supposed to be. That's right, because what's in you? The Bible says.
Speaker 2:The Bible says, the Bible says okay, that the gift is given without repentance. That means, regardless of what state I'm in really like, regarding where my character I'm in really like, regarding where my character, where, where, where I have positioned myself, regardless of what state I'm in and where I'm positioned, my gift can still operate. Yeah, and so his gift of of being a lion, of of hunting and and and leading. He became a leader of these two people who were you know what I'm saying. And so that's where Akuna Matata comes. You know, I'm the king of no worries, I'm the king of no cares. You know, I'm the king of, and when you think about it, ruth Abigail, everything that he sang about, and I just, oh, I just can't wait to be king.
Speaker 1:He was able to do it.
Speaker 2:He got in paradise, that's good can't wait to be king. He was able to do it, he got in paradise, that's good and it's so easy to stay there. Nobody's saying be here. Nobody's saying do this, Nobody's saying do that. You know, everywhere I go, it's looking like and I'm having everything that I said I wanted, because I didn't understand what was going to what. Who I needed to become, you know I never made that connection. But who I needed to become, you know, I never made that connection.
Speaker 1:I just did. That's good man. No, that's true. You know, I always I said I probably said, since I started working, I never want to be an executive director and I never want to fundraise those two things. I would say that for years, I said it for years. And when I and I told Jill to fundraise those two things, I would say that for years, I said it for years. And I, when I and I told, I told Jill, you know, my uh, co-founder, um, and we and I always said she was like she would always say you know, well, I'm just keeping the seat warm is what she was saying. And I'm like I'm never gonna do that, like it's nothing I want to do. And the truth of the matter is, and the role I think I had, I was supposed to be in at the time, but I tell you it was a nice position, like it was a nice position.
Speaker 1:It was one of those things, that one of those positions in the field I'm in that many people don't get, um, I was very, very grateful to have it. I was very privileged to have it and I and I don't take, don't get. I was very, very grateful to have it, I was very privileged to have it and I don't take that for granted. But, man, was I comfortable, boy? I was comfortable, I was comfortable and I'll never forget that I was. Actually my father was getting an honorary doctorate at a school in Pennsylvania, random. We all went and we were staying in this person's house. I was asleep, I was in my bed and the Lord, literally just I remember I was taking a nap. I woke up and I said, oh, I think it's time. And I called Jill in Pennsylvania in a bed after a nap and said I think I'm, I think.
Speaker 2:I'm ready. I, as we all know, I think I've told the story before I'm in college, I was a psych major. I was struggling as a psych major and I remember the night the Lord told me I needed to change my major to religion. I was heartbroken, I was stressed out, Do you hear me? I, in my very melodramatic way, got my keys, went to my car, drove around campus. I drove to the chapel. I told the Lord I don't want to be a pastor. I don't know why you're making me change my religion my religion, not my religion, my religion, my major to religion. But I was crying, I was boohoo crying in that car, saying I don't want to be a pastor.
Speaker 2:I go to divinity school. I tell all my friends hey, I'm here Cause the Lord told me to be here. I'm not a minister, that's y'all's gig. And they're all looking at me like you are the most obvious minister there is Right. Like you are, like girl, what are you talking about, Right? I finally, I give in to the end. It took me, I graduated. Uh, I give in to the. It took me, I graduated. I graduated divinity school with a master of divinity still telling people I ain't want to be a minister. I graduated in 2012. I got licensed in 2019. And it's because one day I woke up and the Lord said it's time to get off the bench. And I told that to my pastor and the next thing I know, the next thing I know you off the bench, the next thing I know I was here are the requirements for becoming a minister. I was like, yep, I didn't know that. I didn't even know that's what that meant. I didn't even know that's what the Lord. But I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I need to get, I need to get off the bench. You just, you get it's, it's's, you just, it just happens, yeah, a lot of times, and I think I, I, so I, if you're, if you're out, if you're like you know, if you're comfortable and you're in paradise, and you're like, hey, I'm chilling, like I'm like I'm and I'm thriving, it's like I don't have no reason to leave. Why would I leave, like, why would I leave? But you know, why would I leave? But you know something and I think you know this is, you know, I'm gonna try this little pivot. Okay, I'm gonna try this little pivot when, when, uh, his, I did not, I'm not doing it as well as you, I can't do it, but but what? And reminded him who he was, who he was yeah.
Speaker 1:She reminded him of his purpose and she had been his partner from the beginning. And she came back around, she spun the block. Listen, listen now. And she said come here. No, no, as she said, come here listen, listen, okay, okay that's what she said.
Speaker 2:I'll take it listen if you haven't guessed who we're talking about, we're talking about the one and only Nyla, alright, the one who looked at him like Look here, buddy, look here, she immediately came in and she was like hey me.
Speaker 1:Put your tail back, get back here.
Speaker 2:Okay, I don't know. First of all, nobody even knew you was out here, right, okay, right, you out here. Right, okay, right, you out here. You know, I'm saying he was living the life of. He was living the life. He was back, he was on the ladder. I'm telling you, he was on the ladder, he was on, he was, he was looking out for himself, he was, he was focused internally on himself. Yes, and she was like, okay, well, while you've been out here in paradise, you're a grown man now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've been dying like everything that your daddy built, yep, everything that, everything that he, he, he founded and he covered. We don't have a covering. Yes, and your raggedy uncle, uncle is out here leading us, yes, and your mama, yeah, come get your mama Right, come get your mama. Somebody had to. You know what? This is real disrespectful. That boy lost his daddy and forgot he even had a mama.
Speaker 1:They just left his mama. I know Left his mama, golly Like dang. That's terrible, but Sarabi can handle herself though. They just left his mama. I know Left his mama, golly my dang. That's terrible, but Sarabi can handle herself though.
Speaker 2:Let's just be real, sarabi can handle herself, the one thing Sarabi can do okay is that what she say?
Speaker 1:Yes, Scar.
Speaker 2:Listen, listen but see we find out in Mufasa what that real relationship was. But nevertheless, we ain't no movie spoilers. Okay, but shit was, but nevertheless, we ain't no movie spoilers. Okay, but go see mufasa, it's a good movie. It's a good movie, um, but yeah, but you know, you got, you have to have somebody. And this is where I think it starts to become clear to him who he had partnered with for which seasons of his life and how he was going to navigate that moving forward. But he could not move forward until Rafiki came back, that's right and reminded him of who his daddy was yes, that's it, come on and pointed him back to the template of who he was to become, because I felt like we hadn't talked about Rafiki yet. And that's my favorite character. We haven't, we haven't.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry. I kind of flashed back to a previous episode that if you haven't watched. We talk about Remember the Titans. You know that part where they say who's your daddy, gary? Who's your daddy you are that's right.
Speaker 2:I was like to be honest, that part sorry, I know we're not supposed to be talking about Remember the Titans, but that part actually scared me. I was like they gonna kill Denzel, they. To be honest, that part sorry, I know we're not supposed to be talking about Remember the Titans, but that part actually scared me. I was like they're going to kill Denzel Because if everybody around him heard what he was saying to them boys, I was like he bold, he bold.
Speaker 1:But I think that's so key, that idea of remembering who you are, remembering who you are designed to be, and but it's it's. It's not about you, it's what you're connected to, that reminds you about that?
Speaker 2:yeah, and so it's.
Speaker 1:I think this is also again going back to the like, like um, um, making a full, if you will. She's so proud of herself.
Speaker 2:That's what's getting me.
Speaker 1:Everything is connected. Like everything is connected, you are not disconnected from your past. Yeah, you're not disconnected from the people who have come before you and you're not disconnected to the creator who put what's in you in you anyway, the creator Right.
Speaker 2:But also I think it was important because he disconnected, because he was holding shame, yeah, and, and shame and guilt disconnects us from purpose and destiny. That's good, because we will. If you are, if you are allowing yourself to be ruled by those emotions, you will find that that puts you in a. He was walking in a circle, but it was a circle that wasn't connected to the circle. He wasn't connected to the bigger picture, because his picture became the shame and guilt that he felt, yeah, and so he built his life around that, yeah, and that's what fortified the grief, yeah. Oh, sorry, I thought you was going to pick that up, oh no, no.
Speaker 2:I think it's, I think, I think I think kind of one of.
Speaker 2:One of the last points I think we want to hit is that when you think about Simba's life and his leadership, his leadership was so intertwined with who he was connected with and what they were kind of reinforcing. Are the ideologies that they were reinforcing in his life Correct, right, you know, like his identity as a lion was depicted by who was telling him what a lion was or what a king was? Yeah, and so you know, they all were protecting this version of him that they had grown attached to. Yeah, and so I think that there's such a pivotal moment where Simba comes to the comes to the realization of who he's going to be, and he starts naming himself, naming his own identity and claiming his identity. He lays claim on who he is, and so, you know, the question becomes you know, because after that, you know, can you feel the love the night with him and Nala? That was really a grown up song, okay, if you go back and look at the lyrics, Okay, it wasn't explicit.
Speaker 2:It was not what five year old understood that.
Speaker 1:No, nobody, it wasn't for them, it was for their parents.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was for the parents.
Speaker 1:It said go back and y'all go find the love, go find it, go feel the love.
Speaker 2:Not Disney healing marriages. Disney said, yeah, we're going to heal the households with this one. You know, protect the family, Focus on the family. But nevertheless, when he left to go pursue who he really was Timon and Timon and Pumbaa I don't know why I struggled. I'm saying it right all day and then I get here and it's like man, but they had a decision to make about who they were going to be in his life from that point forward.
Speaker 2:And I think what do you do with the relationships you had when you pivot? You Like you have to be mindful of how people set themselves up in your life after the pivot, because we lose friends in this change. That's right. We lose friends when we decide to be who we really are and go after the things that God has for us and we are resettled. And and God, when the Bible says that he takes us out of the pit and puts us on a rock, what are the people who were in the pit with you doing? Did anybody else decide to come up on the rock? And you have to be mindful of where people are, because they are physically still talking to you and they are physically still engaging with you, but you have to know where their heart is. Are they in the pit or are they?
Speaker 1:on the rock and that's not for you to decide. Yeah, that's for them to decide. It's for you to discern, it's for them to decide and you, you, you continue, you have to, you have to continue to be where you need to be and understand that if they decide to move forward with you, great, but you can't allow their decision to keep you from moving forward. Yeah, and I think that's what you saw there, right? You know Timon and Pumbaa. Timon, specifically, he was like uh-oh, we're going to lose our boy. Yeah, we're going to lose our friend, we're going to lose our protection. Oh, we're gonna lose our boy. Yeah, we're gonna lose our friend, we're gonna lose our protection. We're gonna lose our lion. What we gonna do?
Speaker 1:and and they, they followed him right um and they wanted to still be a part of the journey with him.
Speaker 2:But everybody won't do that but I also think, you know, I think it's such a great visual because you know people say there are people waiting on you to get in position. You know there are. There are nations of people that are waiting for you. That's what they say.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, people be saying that.
Speaker 2:I mean literally. They're like they found their worries in their cares. You know, they found something to be passionate about, a way that they can contribute. When they were in paradise, they were not in the circle, they were not contributing to the greater picture. It was them, Simba and the bugs. You know what I'm saying? Because the lion was eating bugs. Yep, you know what I'm saying Bugs, Because the lion was eating bugs. He was he tried to offer that to Nyla.
Speaker 1:She was like bruh come home.
Speaker 2:You know this is a prodigal son now Slimy yet satisfying, you know? No, it made no sense, it's gross. It made no sense Like he used to eat zebras. Right, right, yeah you know, the antelope is not the bug, you know. But you getting in position is going to have everything to do with who you're aligned with Absolutely, and you have, you have to be aware, you have to be aware.
Speaker 2:And I think the movie ends because Simba has learned all the lessons and he has developed in the ways that he has accepted the real weight of the crown and not just the glory of it. He accepted the weight. A lot of times we accept the glory but we don't accept the weight. That's right. He accepted the weight of it and he was then able to defeat what tried to defeat him, which was Scar, just to be clear.
Speaker 1:And there you have it, folks.
Speaker 2:There you have it.
Speaker 1:The Lion King.
Speaker 2:Man Well done Listen. Well done Listen.
Speaker 1:That movie was deep. Well done, it was deep. It well done. Well done, it was deep, it really was like it was a deep movie. Uh, a lot, lot of lot of lessons. Um, it really hit home. You know, they really they understood the, the, the journey of the, of the people.
Speaker 2:They get it, you know, and to know that, that these movies were written in like the 80s and the 90s. You know, it's just kind of like you know they were really pulling from some real life experience. I would be interested and maybe for the next movie or the next things that we do, we can pull more context of what was happening in history at that time that these movies were written, context of what was happening in history at that time that these movies were written, because the way we're hearing we're we're reading the movie differently, because we're different, for sure, the way that we read it when we was eight in the 90s, yeah, man which, look, and if we were adults in the 90s, we would have seen it different.
Speaker 1:Because you have a different perspective, you're living a different life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, but also because we're in leadership positions, we we look at it different Also, that that's right.
Speaker 1:Nevertheless, y'all listen thank y'all for hanging out with us. Thanks, guys. So, um, please, please, please, join our community. We, um, we love to have you, we love the growing community of unlearners. Uh, and, just be on the lookout, because we're we have some things that we are thinking about, um figuring out ways, better ways, to serve the community, bring the community together. So, in the near future, just be on the lookout for some cool, um updates of the unlearned podcast.
Speaker 1:Uh, so, but until then, y'all, um, like, share, subscribe. Don't keep this to yourself. Uh, if you're enjoying kind of reminiscing with us through these movies, share with somebody else. Um, and uh, and let's, let's help this thing grow, uh, and let's, uh, let's keep unlearning together, y'all, so we can experience come on, finish it.
Speaker 1:Finish it so that we can experience more freedom. Come on, finish it. Finish it so that we can experience more freedom. Come on, come on. Peace, y'all Peace. Thank you once again for listening to the Unlearned Podcast. We would love to hear your comments and your feedback about the episode. Feel free to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and to let us know what you think. We're looking forward to the next time when we are able to unlearn together to move forward towards freedom. See you then.
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