Lessons Learned from the Little Prince
The Little Prince is a childhood staple all around the world. It teaches important lessons though a whimsical tale, and the story is legendary. Mark Osborne took on the task of creating an animated film based on the original book. The pressure to do the book justice was immense. So instead of doing a direct re-telling of the story, the film adaptation has a twist. At the heart of the movie is The Little Girl, in the modern world, who’s mother is trying to prepare her for the grown-up world. Meanwhile, The Little Girl, has an eccentric neighbour, The Aviator. The Aviator tells The Little Girl of a world that The Little Prince showed him and here, The Little Girl begins her own journey to rediscovering her childhood. This post won’t spoil the movie or the book, but will definitely give you some main lessons that you can takeaway from the movie.
From the very beginning of the movie, we learn that The Little Girl’s mother is a planner, list maker, and meticulous at everything she does. She has come up with “a life plan” for her daughter, and not leaving anything to chance. This leads us to our first lesson. Don’t take yourself too seriously! The mother is afraid that her daughter’s life will not go anywhere and will not make a good grown-up if she doesn’t have a life plan. The mother is way too serious about her daughter’s life. Being too serious will land you a very monotonous life. Make sure to work hard, but also have balance and time to appreciate what you currently have in life.
The Aviator is a very eccentric character in the movie. His house stands out because every other house in the neighbourhood looks the same, except for his. He is not afraid to be himself but he is shunned and ignored by everyone because he is different. This leads us to the next important lesson: judge yourself before judging others! It is easy to make opinions about someone else and their actions, but that will not help you grow or make you a better person. Judge and reflect on yourself and your actions and this is the only way you’ll grow as a person. Don’t worry about what someone else is doing, worry about what you are doing.
The Little Girl is young in age, however, she acts very mature and old for her age. This is a time when children should be playing and discovering new things. However, she has a hard time imagining things before she spoke to The Aviator. She reads a page about The Little Prince and has all these questions and facts about how it is not possible for a boy to live on his own planet. So even if you’re all grown up, don’t loose your imagination. Creativity is where you’ll find original ideas, innovative thoughts, and discovery the answers to problems. Always look past the surface and dig deeper!
On one of the planets, The Little Prince meets an explorer, who hasn’t actually explored anything. He spends all this time reading and finding out information about places to go but doesn’t actually go. The lesson learned here, is to follow your instincts. Don’t just investigate and research new leads because that won’t get you anywhere. You have to follow up on the leads and see them through to get anywhere in your life and career.
The Little Girl stops following her life plan that her mother made for her, which makes her mother angry. The Little Girl tells her mother that the life plan is her mother’s version of her life, not her own. Very wise words from a very wise little girl. How we understand the world comes from our experiences in it. Another person has different experiences and therefore, a different understanding of the world. This can lead to miscommunication and problems. When the issues arise, always try to remember to view the situation from the other person’s perspective as well as your own. As the saying goes, before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
The Little Girl rediscovers her innocence and imagination as a child and realizes that she doesn’t have to be a grown up right now because she is still a child. So that leads us to the last lesson, do what makes you happy because in your heart, you know what is best for you. Create your own path in life and don’t follow anyone else’s. Your path may take you on many twists and turns and off the beaten path, but that isn’t a bad thing because it is the path that your heart told you to take. So take that job in a field that you had never thought about going into, travel to a new foreign place and most importantly, take chances!
Whether you’re going to read the book, or watch the movie, The Little Prince has so many life lessons that can be applicable in all areas. Get inspired and let us know your thoughts about it @Keyobi!
Originally published at blog.keyobi.com.
