Become the Hero of Your Life Story

Everyone has multiple opportunities to become the hero of their own life story. In Disney’s Maleficent, we focus primarily on the character who is portrayed as the evil fairy in the traditional story of Sleeping Beauty. We learn her complete story: The fact that she began life as a good fairy who was the champion of her people against an evil king, who was then betrayed by her close friend and the future heir to the evil king’s throne, Stefan.

We thus learn why Maleficent became so bitter and why she cast an evil spell upon her betrayer’s first born child, Aurora. Maleficent, like all of us, was not born evil. Redemption was always within her grasp. And, although we are addicts, redemption is always within our grasp as well. It’s completely up to our being willing to choose to redeem ourselves from addiction. That’s the first step: admitting we have a problem and that we are now willing to do something to help ourselves.

And how is Maleficent redeemed? She is redeemed through the one thing that she believed did not exist: True love. The curse that Maleficent placed upon Aurora was this, “Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, and fall into a sleep like death! A sleep from which she will never awaken!” When asked how the curse might be broken she replied, “The princess can be woken from her death sleep, but only by True Love's Kiss! This curse will last till the end of time! No power on Earth can change it!” We then learn why Maleficent chose true love’s kiss to break the curse: “Do you know why I cursed that she can only wake up with a kiss of a true love? Because there is no true love in this life.”

But Maleficent learns differently; not through experiencing a true love outside of herself, but one within her own heart. Aurora, now a young girl, and Maleficent meet in the woods one day. Aurora mistakes Maleficent for her fairy godmother and befriends her. Over time Aurora awakens a tenderness within Maleficent that slowly grows into a deep love for the girl. Maleficent has no idea that the feeling she is experiencing is true love, and so when the spell becomes reality on Aurora’s 16th birthday, Maleficent is grief-stricken. Her only hope at this moment is for the young Prince, who is fond of Aurora, to break the spell with true love’s kiss; but he fails to do so because he is not truly in love with her.

Distraught, Maleficent says to the sleeping Aurora, “I will not ask your forgiveness because what I have done to you is unforgivable. I was so lost in hatred and revenge. Sweet Aurora, you stole what was left of my heart. And now I have lost you forever. I swear, no harm will come to you as long as I live. And not a day shall pass that I don't miss your smile.”

Maleficent then places a kiss upon Aurora, and within seconds, Aurora awakens from her sleep. She has been saved by true love’s kiss. Through this great conversion of heart, Maleficent is transformed from villain into heroine of her own story. We thus learn that true love comes in many forms, and that when we truly love someone, our love can work miracles in this life.

For those of us who suffer with addictive personalities, the true love we must first experience is a true love for ourselves. This is the true love that we need to break the curse we have placed on ourselves through self-loathing. We can begin this process of developing a true love for ourselves by imaging ourselves as a young child, like the Aurora that Maleficent comes to love. By befriending our inner-child, we can learn to love that child as Maleficent came to love Aurora. The more we come to love ourselves, and to take our power back from self-loathing and addiction, the more we will become the hero of our own story.

In what ways have you been the villain of your life story? Have you failed to love yourself? Have you been too afraid to be vulnerable and allow a true love to develop in your heart for someone else? What can you do to experience your own personal redemption? How will you allow true love to transform you into becoming the hero of your story?


Dear Lord, kindness, compassion and mercy have often been missing from my heart. I believe that they exist within me, but they have long been hidden behind an emotion-proof fear-based firewall. This firewall has kept me safe from being vulnerable and hurt, but it has also blocked all attempts I’ve made at experiencing true love. Help me to slowly dissolve away all of the fear that has kept me barren of true love for myself and others. I want to be the hero of my story. Amen.

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