What I love the most about them is that they teach valuable life lessons in such a simple way. Although these motion pictures seem to be only for children, I strongly believe that adults have much more to learn from these "ordinary" movies than kids.
I dare you to take about 90 minutes of your day and watch one of the movies mentioned below - it may be the most well-spent 90 minutes of the month.
1. Negative Emotions Are Okay! -- Inside Out
There is a big pressure on being happy these days that we almost forgot that fear, sadness and anger are also part of life, part of our human experience. We often tend to forget that each emotion plays an important role in our lives and that neglecting the negative ones it's not the wisest thing to do because they can bite us at a later time. I believe that instead of talking about happiness, we should better teach people about flexibility, about self-acceptance and self-love.
Our emotions can guide us and are meant to allow us to experience life at the fullest. The secret lies in learning how to work with our emotions instead of putting all the negative ones in a box that now one should ever see. Experiencing negative emotions does not make you weak, but quite the opposite!
2. Stop Judging Everyone! -- Home
One of the main lessons that I got from this movie, even though it came right before the end, was to not judge someone until you walk one mile in their shoes. Even though all the Boovs (the little aliens) thought that Gorg was their enemy, the big ugly spaceship was only following them because they had something very precious -- the last set of eggs and without them their species would go extinct.
It's easy to walk down the street and put a label on everyone (I know I used to do it back in the early college days), but it's better to remember that we are all good at our core, we have good days and bad days and that shouldn't define us.
3. We Are All Equal and Part of the Same Family! -- How to Train Your Dragon
We are all living beings and part of the same planet: people, animals, plants, insects and God knows what else. It's time we start living in more harmony with the world around us.
What I personally like to do is:
- catch flies carefully so I don't hurt them and then throw them outside.
- eliminate ants in a peaceful, natural way even though I am not always successful
- admire and give thanks for all the beautiful nature I have around me
- say blessings over the food that I eat
- save spiders and put them outside nicely
- watch where I step (when possible) and do my best to save some of the insects that you see
4. Revenge is Never a Good Option! -- Big Hero 6
Revenge is never a good option and it will, most likely, make you feel worse than before. Let karma do the work for you. All you have to do is to free yourself by trying to forgive the person and let God/Universe decide if and how to punish him/her.
Sometimes, grief can make us blind, but that's why we have friends that can help us see what's right from wrong and help us make better decisions. You don't have to do everything alone, you don't need to have all the answers. It's okay to be helped, that's what strong people do -- they ask for help when they need it and accept that. It's time we move away from the myth that a strong person has to be strong all the time. We are all human beings, we make mistakes, we have good days and bad days, and sometimes, we just need a little push and that's fine!
5. Learn to Accept Yourself -- Wreck-It Ralph
Ralph says something very wise and it kinda summarizes the whole lesson in one single quote:
"I am bad and that's good, I will never be good and that's not bad, there's no one I'd rather be than me." Learning to better accept and love yourself should be always at the top of your mind because that's what brings you peace of mind, joy, compassion and love for other people. Accepting yourself is an act of consciously acknowledging what you are today, good or bad, with an intention to always strive to improve yourself.
Once we stop resisting things, we grow and everything becomes easier.
6. You Don't Have to Look Like a Hero! -- Kung-Fu Panda
Yes, you don't have to look like a hero to become one. You don't have to do all the things successful people do to become one. Find your own journey and rewrite the rules if you have to.
Like there's no diet to fit all human beings, there's no road to success to fit us all either. Of course, there are some important ingredients you have to keep in mind, but you can mix and match everything else according to your intuition. Always trust your intuition!
Conclusion
Even though they seem to be movies for children, I believe these are the real movies that we should all watch again and again until we learn these lessons (and many more).
Action movies, dramas and thrillers are great, but most of the times they teach us quite the opposite and can create all kinds of fears and negative beliefs. Action movies teach us that revenge is acceptable, dramas teach us to always be on the lookout for something bad to happen -- it can't be good for too long, and don't even get me started on horror movies which I personally believe should be banned.
Let me know your favorite animation movie in a comment below!
