I recently re-watched the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and couldn't help but find numerous life lessons to take from it.

1. You are never alone.

Frodo and Sam probably felt like they were completely alone while journeying to Mount Doom. Being away from their other friends meant that they had no way of knowing what the others were doing to aid them. The survival of the world as they knew it was up to them and up to them alone for all they knew. Despite this, they weren't alone. Even though it seemed like it, there was never a moment when the others weren't taking specific courses of action to aid Frodo and Sam in their journey to destroy the ring. For one example, Aragorn leads an army straight to the Black Gates to distract Sauron so that Frodo and Sam could get to Mount Doom without worrying about Orcs. Though Aragorn and everyone in his army knew that they didn't stand a chance against the masses of Orcs, they fought anyway to give Frodo and Sam support from afar.

2. Even if it doesn't seem like it, it probably does affect you.

I think we can all admit that there have been times when we have heard about an issue whether it be global warming or something a friend is going through and thought, This doesn't affect me. "Lord of the Rings" has taught me that it does affect you regardless of your ability to recognize it or not. Merry and Pippin try to recruit the help of the Ents. The Ents, however, initially decide that the battle is not their problem and so they will not go to war. Soon after, Treebeard and the rest of the Ents discover that the problem does directly effect them. Saruman has cut down numerous trees to build his army of Orcs and this drives the Ents into action. So, when you catch yourself thinking that a problem has nothing to do with you, think again.

3. Friends make you stronger.

At least true friends do. Sam is one of these true friends. When Frodo tries to run off on his own, Sam insists on going with him because he knows that he can help Frodo destroy the ring. As they journey together, Sam is the constant rock and support Frodo has to lean on when he gets too weary and tired to continue. Sam encourages Frodo to continue against all odds and reminds him of the hope of returning home. Just before reaching Mount Doom, Frodo can't physically continue as the weight of the ring has become too heavy. Rather than calling it quits, Sam simply begins to carry Frodo up the mountain. True friends push friends to reach their goals and give more than just a helping hand when you feel like you can't go on.

4. Help can come from the most unexpected places.

Sometimes aid comes in the strangest of forms and from the strangest of places. Aragorn gets help from the Army of the Dead in a desolate mountain pass to help them defeat Sauron's army. The same army that had refused to help the King of Gondor in the past decided to help Aragorn now. I'm sure no one expected help from an army that couldn't be killed. This gave them the extra manpower they needed to save Gondor from Sauron's vast army. Without them, victory would not have been theirs.

5. You can't run away from your responsibilities.

Throughout the series, Aragorn refuses to accept his role as King of Gondor. It is his fear of failing, just as his ancestor Isildur had that kept him from taking the responsibliity of king on his shoulders. Though he tried to run from it, he eventually realized that he had to become king as the people needed a leader to follow in the battle against Sauron. It took time, but eventually he faced Sauron, and showed him that the King of Gondor had returned to destroy him once and for all. Aragorn shows us all that running away from responsibilities doesn't work; they tend to catch up with you in the end.

6. Temptations can be overcome.

Frodo fights with the power of the ring throughout the entire trilogy. Actually, when Frodo makes it to Mount Doom, he doesn't throw the ring into the volcano. He succumbs to the rings power and will to live and refuses to destroy it. When Gollum steals the ring from him shortly after, Frodo regains his clarity of mind and fights Gollum for the ring. This leads to Frodo pushing Gollum with the ring into the volcano successfully destroying the ring. Despite the initial fail in defeating the ring's temptations, Frodo does, in the end succeed in overcoming those temptations.

7. There are things worth fighting for.

For Frodo, the thing worth fighting for was his home in the Shire. He could have chosen to go back to the Shire after getting the ring to Rivendale, but no, he instead decides to take the ring all the way to Mordor to destroy it. He realized that if he didn't destroy the ring, then Sauron would have the ability to destroy everything Frodo cared about, namely, his comfortable home in the Shire and all the people there he cared for. So rather than running back to the safety of the Shire, he headed straight for the dangers of Mordor showing us all that there are things worth fighting for.

8. Even the most difficult of goals can be achieved.

Frodo, a small hobbit, successfully got a powerful ring across Middle Earth and into the heart of Mordor to destroy it. Carrying the ring at all is dangerous; even Gandalf and Lady Galadriel refused to touch it because of the temptations of ultimate power the ring gave to a person. Frodo carried it anyway and took it to Mount Doom, all the while avoiding Orcs and the Nazgul who were all after the ring. Despite the trials and suffering that Frodo experienced, he still found a way to achieve his ultimate goal: destroying the ring. Frodo shows us all that there is always hope, and that there is always a fighting chance. If Frodo can achieve the seemingly impossible, I can achieve any goals I set for myself.