Uncle Iroh and I’s Wisdom

Hello class of 2022! I’m sure by now there’s been some redundancy in the messages we have given each other, as most people will give the normal, “farewell and goodbye, be happy and do what makes you happy” yada yada yada. But, I tried doing what makes me happy, playing video games all day, hoping to rekindle the spark they used to have. Rewatching shows I remember loving hoping they’ll bring back the same enjoyment. Now I scroll through tik tok for hours with an infinite amount of short bursts of dopamine to keep me occupied and distracted from how boring I feel my life really is. As Avatar Aang once said, “When we reach our lowest point, we are open to the most change.” And so I have learned that I simply didn’t know what makes me happy. And instead of trying to force it, I started to find things I enjoy by just trying new things out. I have found an interest in poetry. I am extending myself and finding new friends. I am trying out hobbies and interests to find which ones I really do enjoy and I think you should too.

Don’t worry about the judgment or the ridicule. Stop overthinking about the what ifs. Just try something new, anything at all, and you may find something you truly love. As the absolute chad himself, Uncle Iroh, once said, “you must look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself.” Iroh is explaining that we need to stop being who we think we must be, and just be who we are. 

Let go of the misconception that we are alone in our struggles. You have friends and family, people who genuinely care about you. The man himself, Uncle Iroh, has bestowed upon us another great article of knowledge, “While it is best to believe in one’s self, a little help from others can be a great blessing.” Iroh is telling us to stop trying to go at it alone. Find your people and ask for help when you need it. 

Understand that struggles are temporary. Sometimes you hit a rock bottom just find a rockier bottom buried beneath it. Sometimes life just keeps pulling you down and down and down and sometimes you feel like you’re drowning with cement bricks pulling you down even further. But this feeling never lasts. Uncle Iroh has a beautiful quote for this too, “Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving… you will come to a better place.” Uncle Iroh is telling us to keep moving forward no matter how hopeless things seem to be.