The yellow brick road and lessons learned...

My favorite movie ever is ...The Wizard of Oz.

From early childhood I was captivated with the story.

Once a year it would be on TV and I'm pretty

sure I never missed watching.

I loved the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow,

but most decidedly the Tin Man was my favorite.

I'm not sure why, except maybe it was

his "tender heart" that touched me.

(But he didn't have a heart...go figure!)

I wanted to marry him!

(ok, this is when I was a little kid and no I don't have issues with being attached to aluminum foil).

There were many times that I would walk with a friend or two with our arms interlocked imitating the walk/skip action that Dorothy and the others would do as they set off down the yellow brick road. I remember being so impressed with Dorothy, somehow, she was the one with the brains, the courage, the fortitude or something that kept the group moving along toward the Emerald City. Think about it; she was young, in a really strange place, with very odd people and a lot of opposition..."Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!" and let's not forget the Wicked Witch of the East....the stupid flying monkeys...trees throwing their own apples....and yet..she kept going forward!
I thought Dorothy was amazing! I wanted to be just like her!

Dorothy, despite the difficulties, always seemed okay. She didn't indulge her fears! If she was down it was short lived. She quickly pulled herself together. She did what she had to do! Having Toto to worry about only added to the load she was carrying. She never lost sight of those who needed her help, though her circumstances could surely have derailed those efforts. She knew there was "no place like home" and determined to make it back..no matter what!

I've come to realized that Dorothy is nearly the perfect, although fictional, LDS woman. A real pioneer! She reminds me of some quotes I have recently read...

President Hinckley said "Stand strong, even to become a leader in speaking up in behalf of those causes which make our civilization shine and which give comfort and peace to our lives. You can be a leader. You must be a leader....in those causes for which the Church stands." He also said "I feel to invite women everywhere to rise to the great potential within you.....I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure....I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass."

And then one that has stuck in my mind since the first time I heard it several years ago, we need to become "righteous, problem-solving women of faith."

Isn't this exactly what Dorothy did?

The ruby slippers were cool...I wished I'd had a pair, but the slippers weren't the secret to Dorothy's success...it was her own strength, her willingness to put her faith into action, to get outside her comfort zone and just do it! I'd like to think there's some Dorothy in me and I've been blessed to have many Dorothy's in my life...great women of faith who have helped me discover my own talents and strengths and with love, shown me the way to become the person my Father in Heaven wants me to be! (These ruby slippers...they aren't the ones I remember...sorry...I think everyone gets the gist of things anyway)