What’s your ‘center’?
One of my favorite animated movies is the 2012 Dreamworks production, Rise of the Guardians. It's the story of how Jack Frost became one of the guardians. I remember watching it with my daughter when she was younger and being fascinated by the vivid and beautiful drawings, colors, and animation.
The movie is also filled with other gems including a good storyline and character development. Jack’s character goes from being alone and isolated from everyone to being part of something bigger than him, as a guardian who needs to protect children from known darkness, by the name of Pitch Black. In this post, I want to use this movie to talk about finding your inner strength or your center.
There’s a scene in the movie when North, the head of the guardians asks Jack who he was at his core: what was his “center”.
North explains that at his core, he is a kid who continues to explore the world with a sense of wonder. And he explains to Jack, ‘This wonder is what I put into the world, and what I protect in children.’ That’s his center, to continuously explore the power of wonder and inquisitiveness.
It takes Jack Frost awhile to discover his center. As a young boy, Jack enjoyed having fun and playing pranks on his siblings. He was also very caring towards his siblings. He died helping his younger sister while they were caught on a fragile side of a frozen lake. He died doing something significant. It wasn't so much that he helped save his sister from falling into the icy lake. It was more about how he did it. He helped her overcome her fear by focusing on something fun. He made the experience of getting out of trouble a game. This scene best captures Jack’s center. At his core, Jack is filled with playfulness. Even when faced with destruction and loss, Jack still managed to help his sister focus on her sense of play to overcome fear and anxiety. That is Jack’s center.
I find myself traveling back to this scene in the last few months. Asking myself the same question, what is my center? When things get hectic and we feel overwhelmed and anxious by the uncertainties that are all around us, what should matter most? When all else fails, what will sustain you through it all? What’s your center?
One way to identify your center is to know your character strength. Scholars in the field of positive psychology identified 24 universal characters that form the fundamental traits of our personality. As they acknowledge, these character strengths are ‘descriptive’ and not ‘prescriptive’ and help to emphasize the ‘psychological goodness in human beings across cultures, nations, and beliefs.’ From Bravery, Creativity, and Gratitude, to Appreciation of Beauty, Love of Learning, and Social Intelligence, each of the 24 character strengths is defined by a set of criteria and each one falls within 6 primary virtues or themes which include Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, and Transcendence.
You may take the free survey to explore your list of character strengths. We all have, to a greater or lesser extent, all 24 traits. Yet our top two may differ. Perhaps like North, you approach the world with Curiosity and Hope. Or perhaps you know someone who is like Jack, who approaches the world with Humor and Zest. Knowing the preference which we lean towards can be our advantage as we travel the world that is constantly evolving and changing. Take advantage of understanding your character strengths which may help you understand your center, and use it to serve the greater good of humanity.
