When you ask an anime fan to list some of their favorite shows, you are bound to hear such titles like Dragon Ball Z, Inuyasha, Fairy Tale, and the list could go on endlessly. One staple in the anime world that assuredly would come to the minds of all fans when asked this question is the story of the Leaf Village's number one knuckle headed ninja, Naruto. Naruto is a show that most millennials can remember watching as children and following it into adulthood with the release of the follow up show, Naruto Shippuden. I myself didn't get the pleasure of growing up with Naruto but was introduced to his story by my boyfriend and I was instantly swept away into the ninja world.
Watching Naruto traverse the ninja world in his many adventures, I couldn't help but take some of his lessons to heart. Here are a few of the lessons that can be taken from Naruto's ninja way.
1. Friends are the greatest gifts we could ever ask for.
Naruto values his friendships above anything else. Over the course of the show he goes to the ends of the Earth for each of his friends, doing anything and everything he can to ensure their happiness and safety. Naruto teaches us that friendships are bonds that we should always cherish.
2. Try, try, try again.
Over the course of his ninja training, Naruto fails over and over but he always gets back up and tries again. We should all strive to reach the same levels of persistence as Naruto. When we fail, we can't give up, we need to try, try, try again.
3. You're never finished learning.
Naruto is always looking for the next jutsu he can learn from his teachers like Kakashi and Jiraiya to make him a better ninja. Just as Naruto continuously seeks to better himself, we too as lifelong learners, should always be looking for the next level, the next step up in bettering our selves.
4. Keep you're promises.
When Naruto makes a promise, he will go to the ends of the Earth to keep that promise. We see this reflected in his relentless pursuit of his long lost frenemy Sasuke. When we give someone our word, we should do everything that we can to make sure we keep that promise.
5. Never give up on your dreams.
From the beginning of the show, Naruto proclaims that he will be the leader of the village some day, the Hokage. Most everyone in the leaf village laughs at his dream, never believing it will come true. However at the very end of the show, we see the leaf village's number on knuckle headed ninja, Naruto, become the Hokage of the village. Naruto is proof that we should always reach for our dreams no matter what may lie in our path.
Naruto Uzumaki grew from a hopeless little goofball to become the 7th Hokage of the Leaf Village. His story teaches us lessons like valuing friendship, keeping our promises, never giving up on our dreams, and the list could go on endlessly. We should all strive to live like Naruto, to have his ninja way.
