Tag: growing

While Star Wars A New Hope, which was released when I was five years old has been my favorite movie of all time, it is only recently that I discovered many of the truly important lessons in life can be drawn directly from the films over the last 40 years.  And while I am sure there are many more lessons you can draw from these wonderful films, here are some of my favorite…

“Do or do not… there is no try.” ~ Master Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Perhaps my favorite life lesson, and a long time source of inspiration for me as there is a framed plaque of this quote right on my recreation room wall.  In life you can either do something or not doing, there is no middle ground.  It is a mentality I try to take into everything that I do, I am not going half ass anything.  I am going to run 100 days in a row, I am certainly not going to just try to do…

 

“I find your lack of faith disturbing.” ~ Darth Vader, A New Hope

You need to surround yourself with people that believe in you, and will blow wind into your sails.  Life is far too short to listen to the haters, the doubters, the people that just want to drag you down to their level.  Surround yourself with amazing people that inspire you to be the best version of yourself.

 

C-3PO “Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is 3,720 to 1.”

“Never tell me the odds.” ~ Han Solo, The Empire Strikes Back

If you had told me ten years ago that I would have completed an Ironman triathlon, I would never have believed you.  At the time I was 234 pounds and completely out of shape, but with the proper training plan, and the motivation from deep within myself I crossed the finish line on Aug. 29th, 2009 and will forever be an Ironman finisher.  I have the medal to prove it!!  From this experience I learned that there is nothing that you cannot do in life when you put our mind to it.  It’s a belief in yourself, a belief that you can accomplish anything.  Believe and your will find a way.

“Strike me down and I will be become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” ~ Obi Wan Kenobi, A New Hope

Success in life can often be attributed to failure, or several failures in life.  It’s about getting back up after you have been knocked down, it’s about getting back on that horse after you’ve been bucked off.  Life is hard and at times cruel, it will test you, it will push you to your limits, it will knock you down.  From each failure you can learn from you will evolve into a much more powerful version of yourself.

 

“Fear leads to anger.  Anger leads to hate.  Hate leads to suffering.” ~ Yoda, The Phantom Menace

Even the worst movie of the Star Wars franchise can teach us something, Don’t let fear guide your life,  don’t let fear control your decisions.  Fear of the unknown, fear of the future can cripply you into inaction and nothing.  You know what happens when your afraid and do nothing?  Nothing happens.  I sometimes call this the Negative cycle and it has had it’s powerful grip on me for too long at some points in my life.  I now longer fear the unknown, I embrace it.  I wake up and look forward to each and everyday and what it may bring.  With this changed mindset, I’ve seen my own anger slowly fade away…

“One thing for sure, we’re all going to be a lot thinner!” ~ Han Solo, A New Hope

Humor in life can go a long way, and can make a stressful situation for tolerable.  This would be one lesson that I would want to incorporate more of into my own life, and not get stressed out at things beyond my control.  Laugh about, make jokes and make the best of whatever situation you may find yourself in.

 

“All his life he looked away.  To the future.  To the horizon.  Never his mind on where he was, what he was doing.” ~ Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Being mindful, being present in the moment can go such a long way.  Imagine you are spending quality time with that special person and you continually picked up your phone to check your social media feed, only giving that other person some of your attention.  Now imagine that same interaction with your phone turned off, and the other getting 100% of your attention, your body language, and where your mind is at.  Being mindful, being present can go such a long way in a relationship and can make that special person truly feel special.

 

“Let go of your hate.” ~ Luke Skywalker, Return of the Jedi

There is a time and place to put the past in the past and let go of ill feelings that you may have been holding onto and taking away from other areas of your life.  By embracing the hate, it prevents you from growing in the other direction.  It forces you to focus on the negative as opposed to embracing the positive aspects of life.  Letting go of the hate and anger doesn’t mean forgetting, it means focusing on the bright future ahead that (if you let it) can be filled with love and happiness.

 

I personally believe in the power of the force, and while I may not be able to levitate boulders with my mind, despite how hard I tried when I was a child I certainly believe that there is an energy that as described by Obi Wan Kenobi in A New Hope, “…an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.”  This energy you can tap into, you can use to power yourself to great and amazing things, there is also a dark side energy that can, when you start down it’s path will forever dominate your destiny.

The light side, the positive energy in life is such a powerful thing.  It is powering me to run 100 days in a row, it is powering me to change my life in such a positive way.  I have such a strong personal connection to Darth Vader, as my life was filled with anger and hate until one day I was able to come back to the light side of the force and embrace all that is good in life.