Warning: Contain spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want to know anything about it, please cease reading now and come back after your viewing. And by the way: Why haven’t you seen it yet? ::giggle::
Story telling is an art. The best stories teach us lessons.
For nearly four decades, Star Wars has been an excellent example of great story telling. And even though events in the Star Wars Universe involve bizarre creatures, dark and light forces, and seemingly much more exciting elements than are happening in our world; there is a relevance between the two worlds providing more than a few life lessons.
Star Wars has, and continues to teach us the value of patience, the importance of friendship, and the challenges associated with emotions.
Having seen The Force Awakens its premier weekend and then again a week later, here are 10 Life Lessons I took away from this fantastic film.
Never say “I have a bad feeling about this.”
I am sorry, but the Universe loves comments like this. When you find yourself in a situation where the hairs on the back of your neck rise and set off mental alarms, do not under any circumstances say anything close to “it can’t get any worse” — because it can.
Bring on the power of positive thinking. Go over everything possible and then “fake it till you make it”. Pull a Rey … when you are tied down and can’t possibly see a way out, come up with a “you will remove these restraints and leave the cell with the door open.” She had no idea it would work, but kept trying until it did.
Keep your mind open to new possibilities.
Imagine spending your entire life growing up in a certain environment to be a specific kind of being. In a crucial and defining moment you have to make a choice of whether to follow that path or choose a different one. Finn did that — choosing a completely different path contrary to his lifelong training. And even though many challenges arose along the way, he honorably kept standing up and stayed true to the path he chose.
Think outside the box.
Okay, I can’t escape my feelings for Rey. It felt so good to have a strong woman lead; one having The Force strong within her without her even being aware. As mentioned before, I loved how she played with the whole force mind meld trick while still in restraints. I also loved how she would find a work around to every obstacle she came across. She was creative in overcoming roadblocks, i.e., scaling the walls. By thinking outside the box, she conquered and progressed to her next goal.
Overcome fear.
This is not easy because inner demons can be the hardest battle we face. They don’t seem to ever go away. I learned when in extreme peril, humor can break the tension and put our minds in a different plane enabling us to solve challenges.
Fear and anger always lead to the dark side.
Ain’t that the truth? Even if you’re facing certain death at the hands of a playful sadist who is utilizing vicious force-fed mind games, unleashing your anger and fear will play right into his hands. Relax, breathe deeply, and victory can achieved through calmness. Plus returning a little force-fed mind games of your own can’t hurt either.
Don’t ever die on your furbaby.
They will blow things up. They will blow up the offending party (or at least try). They will not be a happy camper until every bit of evidence of the offending party is obliterated from existence.
Never, ever desert your friends.
Seriously. In this thing we call life, the best we can hope for is good and honest friends. They will stick close to you regardless of how crazy your social circle (or your family and parents) might be. And if one of your friends should happen to disappear, for oh, let’s say, thirty or more years, bend over backwards to find them. It could change your life.
Quieting the mind can be powerful.
Have you noticed when a Jedi (whether they know it or not) gets really quiet before they kick some butt? There is immense power in getting quiet and thinking about our actions before actually doing them. Focusing like a laser on one particular issue; emptying out all the mind chatter; preparing yourself — can tip the scales and equate to your having the advantage over the threat/challenge.
Don’t knock woman’s intuition.
Just sayin’. Well, I didn’t say it — Han Solo did … “Women always figure out the truth. Always.” Women are blessed with a sense of intuition lacking in others. Acknowledging it and owning up are always the best choices.
Life is all about choices.
Countless times during the movie we saw choices given and decisions made. There is a direct relationship between decisions and consequences. We need to know we can make choices and decisions about our lives; however, we don’t always get to choose the consequences.
In the end, Star Wars: The Force Awakens succeeds for every audience demographic; and each one will derive their own lessons from its immense universe of character traits and behaviors.
What lessons did you learn? Share below in the comments. I would love to hear them.
