Anxiety hero trading cards #5...

#5 The Cowardly Lion

Ruuuuuuraaaaaaggh!

Vital anxiety statistics: 'Is my nose bleedin'?'. Poor Cowardly Lion can't sleep, is terrified of a terrier, can't count sheep because he's afraid of them, and has a panic attack in the Emerald City. BUT, in a surprising and morally-informative (!) twist, he reveals himself to be the real hero of the piece.

Career highlights: When he gets the bow in his hair in the Emerald City salon thing, puts the marathon runners foil recovery towel over him and sings about being the king of the forest ('the chipmunks genuflect to me' etc)

Why he's an AWESOME anxiety hero: Well, he's one of the most AWESOMEly brave (oh yes, his name is ironic for ye shall see that he is not a coward at all) characters in one of the most AWESOMELY AWESOME FILMS OF ALL TIME

What you can learn from him: Bravery would mean nothing without fear. True courage is about acting in spite of fear, not about having no fear at all. What poor 'cowardly' doesn't realise is that he is actually brave and courageous, but he thinks he's not, because he mistakenly believes that to be fearful is to be a coward.  He still goes and rescues Dorothy from the evil monkeys and does loads of brave and awesome things (especially in the book), despite his terror, and never really needed the medal from the wizard because the COURAGE WAS IN HIM ALL ALONG!

Best anxiety quote: 'I haven't any courage at all! I even scare myself. Look at the circles under my eyes, I haven't slept for weeks!'

Further reading: Read the book. Watch the film. And then maybe make me a Wizard of Oz quilt because I really, really, really want one.

This is you, dear reader, receiving your special fake wizard courage medal even though you had it in you ALL ALONG and didn't know it. How cool is that?!