As I watched his accomplishment
unfold, it caused me to think of my ten year daughter, Sianna, who was fast
asleep. You see, several years ago, when I was in a fantasy baseball league my
daughter and I co-managed a team called, you guessed it, the BIG FAT PANDAS.
My daughter loves pandas and her only real mandate was that we draft Pablo
Sandoval. So, we did. Ever since, when I see Sandoval playing baseball I think
of my daughter, proud owner of over twenty five stuffed pandas and who at one
time had dreams of growing up to rescue pandas in their habitat.
So, in honor of Pablo’s big night,
my love for my daughter and her affection for pandas everywhere, I would like
to share my list of 7 life lessons I learned from the movie, KUNG FU PANDA.
Word of caution: If you are not familiar with the movie, KUNG FU PANDA,
please feel free to rent it at your convenience. Seeing what I am about to
share with you will make less sense if you are unfamiliar with the material.
1-Climb the stairs- It’s a pretty simple concept actually, but not terribly
easy to do. Over and over again in the movie, Po, is seen
climbing up steps and sometimes even falling down them. Yet, time and time
again he climbs them till he reaches the top. It’s hard to do what pains us,
what makes us short of breath and even harder to convince yourself that this is
the best alternative. Climbing hurts, but although it hurts, to get to the top
you must persevere. In more cases than not, we wouldn’t truly appreciate our
final destination, if we didn’t have to work so hard to get there.
2- Believe when no one else does- Cooking and eating
seemed to be more Po’s thing, than saving the village from bad guys.
However, if he had not climbed the stairs during a pivotal point in the movie,
he wouldn’t have been in the position to be chosen as the coveted dragon
warrior. He could have easily given up his dreams of being a hero and just
stayed content making noodles and no one who would have blamed him.
3- Strength is weakness- “I am THE Big Fat Panda”. This is my favorite line from the
movie. The bad guy, Tai Lung the leopard, is fighting Po and can’t believe that
he can’t knock the overweight panda out. In frustration he tries to punch the
fluffy panda over and over again with no success. Finally, in one last act of
desperation, Tai Lung jabs at Po and this time the hero grab’s the villain’s
paw. The leopard responds by saying, “but you’re just a big fat panda, you can’t
beat me,” to which Po says, No, I’m The Big Fat Panda, and then proceeds to…….
well I won’t give the ending away, at least not yet.
4-Be kind to bunnies- This is another basic idea we should all employ on a daily
basis, that is often easier said than done. During the movie, on more than one
occasion, Po is kind to bunnies. He treats them nicely and protects them from
their enemies; just one big fluffy creature watching out for another, smaller
fuzzier one. It just makes sense to me, better to be kind than to be mean.
5-Use the death grip- Sometimes in life
when we are faced with difficulty we buckle down and give it all we got to get
through. Call it the Wushi finger hold , like in the movie, or getting good
grades at school or standing up and being a responsible adult. Regardless the
verbiage, sometimes you just got to do what you got to do, like Po did in the
end of the movie. **** Caution spoiler here**** Remember, earlier when I
referred to the part in the movie when the leopard punched Po. Shortly
afterward Po obliterated the bad guy when he employed the Wushi finger hold on
him and saves the entire village.
6-Be who you are- Pandas are
simply black and white. They don’t know they are nearly extinct and it probably never
even crossed their feeble minds. Not unlike panda bears, God made us precisely
who we are for a certain purpose and provided us with certain skills to
accomplish that with it. In the movie, Po never really changes who he is
intrinsically, he just learns to be the best panda bear he can be.
7-Learn to respond well to the negative-
More times than not people who make
fun are doing it to bring you to their level. Po didn’t let the other Kung Fu
warriors who had more experience get him down. At first he did, but eventually
even though he was unorthodox he just kept pushing through and in the end he
rescued them. How you react when people laugh at you or make fun of you is a
true reflection of your real character.
Case in point, Sianna gave some
excellent advice to a friend the other night when her friend sought counsel on
what to do when people picked on her. Ignore rude comments, change your
appearance to a point as to not draw attention, keep moving.
In summary, what Pablo Sandoval, my
daughter and Kung Fu Panda have taught me most is to create your own
pandemonium, always be kind and when necessary use force.
Swavel
No comments:
Post a Comment