5 life lessons I learned from Lord of the Rings

Hello, Reader.
I recently treated myself once again to the cinematic experience that is The Lord of the Rings. I have to say that even though I've watched it a truly unreasonable number of times, I always seem to pull a new lesson from the seminal Jackson masterpiece. With that in mind, my last viewing has given me a couple of interesting thoughts on life in general, aside from the obvious ones like the importance of friendship and the triumph of good over evil. And since I've loved this story since I was too small for my mother to let me see the Ring wraiths, I have decided to dedicate an article to the new stories that I found within Middle Earth.

Your family doesn't define you
Something that we see a lot of is the idea of choosing your own fate, and avoiding the fate laid out by those before you; particularly in the case of your family. This concept is shown most clearly in the case of Aragorn, the stoic, stubble faced ranger.

When he isn't brooding, he's cutting glass with his jawline

The motivation for his character is that he is running from the failure of his ancestor, Isildur, who is failed to destroy the Ring, and is responsible for the situation before the Fellowship. This is why we find Aragorn in the medieval equivalent of a dive bar at the beginning of the film; because he's afraid of making the same mistakes his forefathers did, and feels that by sharing their blood, he shares their weakness. It takes a reborn, bleached Wizard to convince Aragorn that he's not destined for failure.

Alongside one of the most under-appreciated characters in modern cinema

The lesson that I feel we can take from this is that no matter what your family is like, you have the choice to be something different and new, for good or bad. You can choose to break the tradition and be the first person in your family to get a college education. Or perhaps to be the first to volunteer for a cause that's unpopular at home.

It's never too late to do the right thing
Another member of the Fellowship is the Gondorian Captain Boromir, played by Sean "Why do I die in all my parts" Bean. Boromir is most commonly remembered for two things: Trying to steal the One Ring from Frodo...

(But when you see that quality, who could blame him?)

...and dying.

after being shot by some impractically large arrows.

But the important thing is what he did in between these two events. After Frodo goes invisible and trips Boromir, the Gondorian captain snaps out of it, and promptly kills like, 30 orcs to save the two least important people in the group. Even though he'd made an awful mistake, which had nearly doomed the quest, he had not been intentionally hurtful, and gave a truly heroic sacrifice. It occurs to me that I could learn to give those around me grace for their mistakes, or even their willful misdeeds. You never know when someone will surprise you by doing something extraordinary.

A relationship is at its best when both are willing to sacrifice.
Back to Aragorn, everyone's favorite grizzled ranger with self-esteem issues. So Aragorn is in a relationship with Arwen, the princess of the elves. Since she is elvish, she lives a long time. Aragorn, being mortal, lives a significantly shorter time.

Although much longer than you'd expect
Arwen fundamentally has to choose between a love to a man who would die very soon, by her standards, or to live without the man she loved. She chose Aragorn, and the symbol of her love and faith was the Evenstar, which is essentially her soul, and shows up throughout the trilogy.

"Sure, that's about what I figure an elven soul looks like"- Peter Jackson, apparently

And Aragorn chose to give up the possibility of a life with the woman he loved so she could experience eternity among her people.

Let's be honest, ladies. Who could say no to eternity with this hunk o' man?

The fact that Arwen and Aragorn were willing to sacrifice for each other is precisely what made them a compelling relationship, despite sharing less than 15 minutes in a 10 hour trilogy. If you're with someone, be willing to sacrifice for them. If they're willing to sacrifice for you, then you might have found a relationship that'll last.

Sometimes you have to handle a problem by yourself
Frodo is the chief character of the Lord of the Rings, because he is the Ringbearer, the one who carries the Ring of Power to its destruction in Mount Doom at the end. And heavens above, does he go through some challenges to get there. During a moment of Frodo's self doubt, he talks to Gandalf, saying he wished that the Ring had never come to him.

"Perhaps you should have picked someone who can stand upright?"

Gandalf replies by saying that it is not our decision what hard times come to us, but how we handle them. Frodo takes this to heart and makes the decision to bear the Ring alone, so the others won't be tempted by it and try to kill him (see Boromir above).
Frodo makes this decision because he realizes that he can ultimately trust himself best, and needs to do this job, because if not him, then who?

But sometimes a job is too big to do alone
Frodo is just beginning his flight into the most dangerous area in this fantasy world by himself when he is caught by Samwise Gamgee.
()
THE most under-appreciated character in modern cinema
This turns out to be in Frodo's favor, because although he saves Sam from drowning almost instantly,

Frodo finds himself being saved by Sam afterward

Again

And Again

And Again

"Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam"

There are many things which you, as an individual, must do. You have to do your job, and care for those around you, and act upon your conscience. But forgetting to trust in those who have earned it is a good way to stop from completing your objective at all. Trust in the people who want to get into your life, and give them chances to surprise you. Who knows? They might even wind up saving you if you lose your way.