How many of you had the experience growing up of being told in various ways to limit yourselves from being all you can be? The movie “The Incredibles” is a wonderful metaphor for this. In this movie, the superheroes – the people with extraordinary powers – are restricted from using their powers.
When I was growing up, I was not supported in being all I could be. When I said I wanted to be a pilot, people laughed and told me to get my head out of the clouds. “Don’t you think you might work at the local bank?” one neighbor asked. So, I learned to my goals and dreams. If I wanted to “fit in,” I needed to be like everyone else, and not aspire to much of anything. Having dreams was considered “weird.”
In the movie, the superheroes are finally allowed to use their powers because they are needed to save the planet. This, too, is a metaphor. We are each extraordinary in our own ways, and this planet needs each of us to fully express our gifts and talents. We need extraordinary people to step up to the plate to guide us away from fear, greed and manipulation and into caring, compassion, and personal responsibility. Fortunately, many more young people today are encouraged to be all they can be.
At the end of the movie, a horrible monster arises from the earth, saying something like, “We are the underminers. We undermine happiness, peace and joy. We are always beneath you.”
Who are the underminers?
Underminers are both inside of you and outside.
Outer underminers are those people who do not have your highest good at heart. They are the people who want to use you, blame you, manipulate and control you, and try to limit you. They are the people who are threatened by you being all you can be. They are the people who want you to care-take them rather than take responsibility for yourself. These people can be family, friends, neighbors, or co-workers – anyone in your life who does not support you, your dreams or being all you can be. It is sad and lonely when the people who say they care about you, instead do all they can to control and limit you.
However, as adults it is the inner underminers who cause us the most damage. The inner underminers are the wounded parts of ourselves that hold our limiting beliefs – the lies we learned about ourselves. These underminers shout lies to us that cause our fears and anxieties and keep us from fully manifesting all that we are. They keep us from achieving our dreams… indeed they keep us paralyzed so we don’t even try to reach for our goals.
My underminer was saying, “You can’t do it. You will fail.” My underminer keeps me immobilized and “safe.”
“You can’t.” “You will fail.” “You are inadequate.” “Who do you think you are?”
The underminer – undermining your happiness, peace and joy. Keeping you from success and from following your dreams. Why not be a superhero and stop listening to the underminers?