Boy, I'm telling you! Disney used to do a great job of sneaking real messages into their animated movies. Some of this stuff I didn't even catch until I was an adult. Such is the case with the movie Aladdin.

Think about it for a second. A poor orphan boy living on the streets with his only friend- a monkey. No one thinks he's worth anything. He doesn't even think he's worth anything. When he finally does find a way to change his life, he thinks the only way to get his dream girl is to change who he is. How wrong he was!

As a child, I just thought it was a sweet love story. I can't believe I missed the main theme of the movie: just be yourself. Somehow it escaped me when the sand tiger was screaming about seeking the diamond in the rough, and looking for the one whose worth lies within.

The crazy thing is how I noticed a couple of other things tied to this theme:

1. Aladdin didn't know his worth. However, he did get mad when someone insinuated that he was worthless (I believe the term lobbed toward him was street rat). That let's me know that somewhere, deep down inside, he knew that there was more to him than eyes could see.

I think whenever someone treats us in a way that's less than we deserve, we instinctively react to it. It's our spirit way of screaming, "I'm a person of value, and I deserve to be treated as such!!!"

2. Jafar didn't know his intrinsic worth; he only knew his immediate usefulness. There's a difference. I think this happens a lot in real life too. We meet people who seem to value us. However, they only intend to use us as a means to an end; not caring how we feel about it.

I so get it now. The worth of a man (or woman) cannot be determined from looking at the outside because it lies within. The diamond in the rough is still a treasure, even if you can't yet see it's beauty.