5 Lessons From How To Train Your Dragon
The animated movie “How to Train Your Dragon” is not simply a tale about teaching your magical pet some tricks. It is a story with many life lessons in it.
(Photo credit: Creative commons dragon picture from Willi; other image elements including photo of my daughter from my personal album; effects made with photoshop software).
“We think, sometimes, there’s not a dragon left. Not one brave knight, not a single princess gliding through secret forests … What a pleasure to be wrong. Princesses, knights, enchantments and dragons, mystery and adventure … not only are they here-and-now, they’re all that ever lived on earth! Masters of reality still meet us in dreams to tell us that we’ve never lost the shield we need against dragons, that blue-fire voltage arcs through us now to change our world as we wish. Intuition whispers true: We’re not dust, we’re magic!”
— Richard Bach, Best Selling Author to the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Unfortunately, my kids appeared to have missed some of the important points from the show. During the screening, they were more besotted by the character of Night Fury (named “Toothless”), the rarest of all dragons. They had found its pair of expressive eyes and “cute” looks very appealing.
Well, during our post-movie review, I shared with them the lessons I have gathered. These were what I brought up for their consideration…
1. Be Yourself.
Self acceptance is key. Rather than trying to be someone you are not, accept who you are.
For the longest time, the main character Hiccup had always wanted to be like his dad or everyone else on the island. He just could not accept that he was born without looking like a Viking or that he was never good at dragon slaying. A typical Viking apparently had a beef-cake look with long busy beards, one wooden leg and scars. And Hiccup was anything but that.
Hiccup would also end up in disastrous situations whenever he tried to kill a dragon. However, it was only when he owned up to who he really was that he began to shine. He made use of skills that he was good at. He even managed to win the girl of his dreams.
2. Search for the Truth.
Do not simply accept what is written. Test what you know. Wisdom is from experiential knowing.
In the movie, Hiccup did not rely on what was previously known about dragons. Instead he chose to find out for himself what dragons were really like. Consequently, he managed to debunk old myths and found out what was really true.
3. Practice Compassion.
Practice compassion even to your enemies. Learn to make friends. Your enemies may turn out to be your closest and most powerful ally in times of adversity.
The opportunity to “prove” that he was a Viking presented itself. However, Hiccup could not bring himself to kill Toothless, the night fury dragon which had lost one half of its tail. He soon found himself using his engineering skills to help Toothless with its broken tail. Toothless returned the favor eventually by saving his human friend.
4. Work with Nature.
Nature is a great teacher. Learn to work with nature, rather than against it.
While designing a new tail for Toothless, Hiccup studied about the wind, dragons and the layer of the land and sky. He worked with nature to obtain the best results. Hiccup also made observations about dragons and their habits. He learned how to deal with them without harming them.
5. Be Bold.
To win, you need to be courageous and take a bold action. To get different results, do something crazy for a change.
Hiccup had a history of doing crazy things but would often get into trouble. At the crucial moment, he decided that in order to save the day, he needed to step up by doing something wild once again. His friends were even convinced enough to join him in his idea this time.
Dragon-Training Thoughts
If you haven’t watched the movie “How to Train Your Dragon”, I highly recommend that you do. You may just pick up an additional tip or two about teaching your pets how to breathe out fire!
During our post-movie discussion, my children and I talked about what we would like to train our dragons to do. Since dragons are known to be magical beings, the possibilities appeared endless. One of my girls shared…
“If I have a dragon, I will train it to
– bring me to school.
– play with me.
– do my homework.”
And some of mine….
“If I have a dragon, I will train it to
– chauffeur my girls for their classes.
– do yoga.
– light the stove and cook dinner.”
Fire Up Your Imagination
Now over to you. What if you have a dragon? What will you train it to do?
Complete the sentence below….
If I have a dragon, I will train it to ____________.
Training School Update. As with all dragons and vikings, I will be taking time to undergo some training. I will be mostly offline and away in the next two weeks for upgrading skills. I hope to connect with you soon! Take care in the meantime!
Off on “Viking Warrior” Training,
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Evelyn Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Hi Joy,
I can just expect you to like the movie as well 🙂 Great one there about learning from the dragon about things of magnificence. It will be quite an adventure to fly to faraway places!!
With love,
Evelyn