YOU'RE A VERY FINE SWAN INDEED!

"There once was an ugly duckling, with feathers all stubby and brown, and the other birds said in so many words, Get out of town."

 

“The Ugly Duckling” is a fairytale written in November 1843 by the Danish Author, Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a little swan who is born into a family of ducks, but is teased and ostracized by his brothers and sisters because he neither fits in nor looks like the rest of them.

The mother and her ducklings head for the pond, leaving the ‘ugly duckling’ all alone! However, he quickly follows and discovers that he can swim faster than his brothers and sisters. He just loves to swim! Perceived as ugly and different, he is quickly cast out of the pond.

"And he went with a quack and a waddle and a quack in a flurry of eiderdown."

Wherever he goes, the ‘ugly duckling’ is rejected by other animals for the same reasons. He finds himself on a farm, where the cat and the hen tell him that he must behave in a certain way if he is to be accepted by others. Instead of the loud, deep ‘honking’ sound that he makes, he needs to learn to ‘quack’!

 

Feeling yet again rejected, he leaves the farm and returns to the pond, where he encounters a group of elegant white birds. They look so majestic! The ‘ugly duckling’ aspires to be as beautiful as them one day. As his love of swimming is so great, he decides to ignore the negative comments of the other birds and animals and spends a long, cold winter on the pond all by himself.  In the spring, the ‘ugly duckling’ happens to see his reflection in the water. What he sees greatly surprises him! He was never a duck after all.  He has grown into a beautiful, majestic, white swan!

 

"Not a quack, not a quack, not a waddle or a quack, but a glide and a whistle and a snowy white back. And a head so noble and high. Say who's an ugly duckling? Not I!"

This classic tale tells us that despite rejection and obstacles, that with sheer determination and perseverance we can achieve our goals and desires and finally find our place in society!
Hans Christian Andersen is said to have structured the story based on the challenges he had to deal with in his life. He had a very tall, awkward, body structure and was constantly mocked for it. Born in Odense, Denmark in 1805, he traveled to Copenhagen in 1819 to find work as an actor.  Throughout his short acting career, he faced many challenges and was eventually rejected from the theater, because he just did not fit in, just as the ‘ugly duckling’ was rejected from the pond! Hans Christian Andersen was perceived as clumsy and with little talent by other actors.

Andersen returned to school and started to write. Though he was discouraged by his teachers, he ignored their comments and continued writing his stories. He quickly became a promising author and won a grant from the King of Denmark that allowed him to travel across Europe to develop his writing. In 1835, Andersen began producing his fairytales.

It seems our society is filled with ‘ugly ducklings’ and cats and hens.  Many people tend to compare themselves to others, instead of just accepting who they are and working to reach their full potential. Many people dream of being like someone else, hoping to be treated as well as others, and in doing so they try to live up to other peoples’ standards, instead of their own.

The popular music hit by the American Pop Band, Echosmith, “Cool Kids”, is exactly about this. The song is about a boy and girl who just want to be noticed – “I wish that I could be like the cool kids, cause all the cool kids they seem to fit in!”

The message behind The Ugly Duckling, and indeed ‘Cool Kids’, is to NEVER give up on following your own dreams and passions, despite rejection and obstacles. It is about having the confidence and courage to find your true self. In doing so you will find your beautiful, inner swan!

The Powerhouse Program is designed to transform you from an 'ugly duckling' to a 'majestic, beautiful swan' by building your courage, increasing your self-esteem and providing the confidence to heighten a sense of leadership and level of performance.  In doing so, people find it easier to overcome obstacles instead of avoiding them. RISE UP! SPEAK UP! POWER UP!