The problem with fairytales

Stories have always played a huge role in my life

I grew up in Switzerland on a steady diet of bible stories and fairy tales. Then as I got older I moved on to tricky quests and hero stories. I couldn’t get enough of the drama and excitement of tales such as “The Never Ending Story”, “Harry Potter”, “Lord of the Rings”, and “The Alchemist”.

You may wonder how I could possibly mention the Bible, Ende, Rowling, Tolkien, and Coehlo in the same sentence. Let me tell you. Because they all have something crucially important in common: a Happy Ending. There’s always a Prince Charming bounding along on his white shiny horse to rescue you from your problems at the end.

So why am I telling you this?

Because, if like me you have been fed on stories of last minute rescue. Stories of leaders, saviours, princes, witches and magicians, queens and kings who magically sweep in as a last resort and pull us out of our misery. Then you may be unconsciously waiting for a magical saviour to rescue you and your world at the last minute. After all, no matter how bad a fairytale gets, there’s always a Fairy Godmother or a Magical Kiss waiting in the wings to make everything okay again.

Well sorry to pop your idealistic bubble – but no one is coming to save us.

If you’re worrying about the big stuff – political unrest, climate change, pollution, modern day slavery, and other atrocities we as humans have brought upon us – then there’s only one person who’s going to pull you out of this nightmare.

You! You are your own hero

Your family, your community, your organisation, your country, your planet isn’t going to be rescued by a wizard or a knight in shining armour. It’s waiting for you. It needs you. It needs me. It needs us all.

The world needs to change. We all know that, and we all know that the power is in the collective. And a collective is only as strong as its weakest member.

What we need are deeply transformative learning experiences in connected and collaborative group environments, were we as individuals are shown how to discover our calling and take action by utilising our passions, talents and strengths in order to have a meaningful impact on the world.

This is why I founded Azkua. We don’t teach you how to be perfect, have it all or be ‘better’. We provide the tools so you can discover your inner strength, calm, and acceptance to make that confident change in the world you care so much about.

Join the Azkua tribe, and find a stronger you. The world needs more of that!

Manuela Damant. Azkua Coach