Power Play The Game!!!

Do you ever wonder how you're supposed to accomplish anything significant in life?! I wonder about that all the damn time!

 We've all got really crazy amazing dreams of life that we desperately want to bring to fruition. The problem is that there are so many obstacles in the way. It seems that hard work doesn't really matter in the face of your obligations to other people in your life, the orders of authorities, the lack of time and resources to devote to your most dearly held ideals of living, and the apparent lack of energy and gusto we have to face all of these things in order to overcome them and move full steam ahead to our dream lives!

 In anime we are constantly barraged by examples of characters who in some way or another manage to break from the life as "one of the herd" in order to branch out and become a powerful force that can contend with any challenge. The examples are endless within the otaku world. Naruto was supposed to be a loser destined to fail but he's succeeding more and more everyday and is saving his village from danger constantly Lelouch vi Britannia was never going to be able to change the world and would live and die as a pathetic commoner. But suddenly, endowed with the mysterious Geass power he rises to become one of the greatest men to ever live. Ichigo Kurosaki had no strength to shatter fate and so had to resign himself to a world where he could do very little and protect no one from harm. Then Rukia changed his world and gave him the power to challenge Soul Society, Aizen, the Fullbringers, and now the Vandenreich. 

 I think you see where I'm going with all of this. Relatable characters in the position of "normal person" somehow breaks the chains and rises to a dream life. Doing everything a self-actualized person would have to do to maintain his/her satisfaction.

 You won't stop him so easy now and his friends will be safe!

 The problem when you get down to it is that anime is written by authors who control literally everything that happens. While in life you can only be the author of your own actions and you really can't account for the choices of others. Our suspension of disbelief allows us to pretend that the characters face the same kinds of challenges that we face but in reality they have the advantage of a writer who wants them to achieve exactly what they want to achieve and in spite of the twists turns and suspenseful events the author will ultimately insure success exactly the way the audience wants it. I believe in God myself but never the less it's clear He's not too keen on letting us have our merry way in life. So what are we to do?

 I've mentioned before that I believe that we can achieve happiness and fulfillment by following certain principles of Anime without having to defy the laws of our physical reality and I firmly believe this. But in order to do this we need to have some way to approach the harsh realities of life. 

 When I brought munchins and friendly little love notes for everyone in my office I was trying to instigate some anime inspired crazy fun and happiness! But my boss, the authority figure went and decided that I was suicidal and told my mother on me causing a whole ordeal in which I was hunted down in the middle of Baltimore where I had to face my mother breaking down in tears with worry about my safety and well-being... 

 I care for my mother very much and of course I felt bad for her, but at the same time I thought to my self "YOU DAMN FOOLS!". I was mostly disappointed and really crushed that people didn't seem to get it. Why didn't they react like the anime script? Why weren't they all just so touched that they had their hearts melt and everyone began a friendship building adventure?! That's what would have happened in Naruto or in Kimi ni Todoke! 

                                       "I must show them my appreciation...with COOKIES!"

 Unfortunately real life has freakin rules that we normally have to follow. We are under the thumb of many different "authorities" that suppress even our greatest efforts and rebels tend to be demonized as outcasts, trouble makers, and gullible idealistic fools. So when we try to introduce better ideas full of love and fun instead of being revered like Haruhi Suzumiya we get squashed by our teachers and bosses and parents and neighbors and friends and every freakin body else!!! 

 The question I want to pose and answer is this: How to you successfully rebel against and positively change a world that doesn't want it? 

                                              "Could I become a man like that maybe?"

 I mean what are we going to do really? Can we kill slews of people like Lelouch? Ahhhhh...I don't think that's a good idea. What about kidnapping a Moe girl and forcing her to join your SOS Brigade and then extorting a computer from the computer club?! Hmmmm...we probably can't get away with that either...

 So what do we do???!!!

                                              Please share your wisdom oh mighty goddess!!!

 We need some creative solutions to rebel against the grain to advance the world to the next exciting stage of existence. We need to break rules with impunity, using loopholes in the very system that keeps us down. The first thing I think we need to do is start breaking our own rules!!!

 Yes! Remember how I said we are only in control of our own behaviors? Well guess what, with that power you have you have established rules to oppress your own damn self! Think about it, there are numerous things that you forbid yourself to do as well as many things that you insist on doing constantly no matter what because if you don't do them you somehow feel a void in life. These are the "rules" that you impose on yourself. I for one thought for the longest time that blogging was a waste of time because it was just some silly hobby that nerds living in mom's basement took up because they had no lives. That was a "rule" that I set down to oppress my own life because I didn't know any better!!! But when I broke that one stupid rule of mine in order to start this anime blog I gained an immense amount of power and confidence by successfully trying to write a blog that was well received by readers and allowed me to start connecting to my fellow anime fans of the world!

 I also had a personal tendency to shy away from study partners at school because, in an act of unsuccessful rebellion I was trying to stick it to "the system" and remain aloof and disengaged. But that didn't get me anywhere I was in a failing rebellion and didn't know where life was going. But when I broke that rule and saved a classmate from dropping the class I started on an exciting and unpredictable path that got me connected to worlds and people I never knew existed and launched an adventure that is transforming me into a friggin statistics master! Statistics of all things! I've always sucked at math and now I'm a Stats Nerd!

 By breaking your own rules you are teaching yourself how to have and acquire more power and influence. You're also getting a feel for what you are truly capable of in life and it will open soooooo many doors and windows for you. Your first step in a successful better world rebellion is to rebel against your own worst enemy...yourself. Break the chains that you bind yourself with by facing your fears and working at things that you absolutely suck at. The suckier you are at what you are working at the more fun it will be. The point is to go beyond what you think is sensible because what you think is sensible is really nothing but arbitrary rules you've set for the way you've been trained to believe the world works. Your thoughts are wrong!!!

                                                           This is a relevant picture right??

 So then once we've mastered ourselves what are we supposed to do about the fools all around us? Well...I have to be honest I'm not really sure. But I'm thinking that if we build up our power by using our own anime logic to fight against our self-oppression we will unlock the key to defying the gravity issues of the world at large. (I.E. "gravity issue" refers to something that can't be changed or fixed.) Don't resist the chaos of life by trying to suppress it with logic and rules. Embrace the natural craziness of the world and use whatever you  can grab onto as a tool to enhance your life.

 This is the next suggestion I have: When you've freed yourself from your self constructed constraints you then have to use your new found freedom to start grabbing opportunity. My brother invited me to a film festival this coming weekend for my birthday. I have no idea what I'm in for but I'm breaking my personal rule of avoiding strange new situations in order to free myself up and grab the power that I could acquire from the friends I could make or the knowledge I could learn and the resources I might manage to acquire on the journey. Hopefully I'll become closer to my brother and make friends who could enhance my life. Hopefully I'll encounter creative work that inspires me with an idea that I can run with to create a cool work of my own. By freeing myself so that even I can't predict what I'll do, discover, or receive I become a force to be reckoned with. Something that can't be constrained because it doesn't even acknowledge constraints because they no longer exist within my own heart. A free soul is the key to a free life and the achievement of unlimited power!

                             Pictured: Combat sponsored by their school! Could this really happen? 

 There are lots of crazy stupid ridiculous things that could totally be made real in some form or another but we have to free our selves from what we think can happen in order to discover the amazing possible dream lives we could be living right now. So go ahead get out there and defy yourself and in so doing you will defy the world and conquer along with me!!!