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5 Powerful Quotes From the Lord of the Rings That Will Make You Hopeful

Life lessons that are still significantly relevant

By JjyotiPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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5 Powerful Quotes From the Lord of the Rings That Will Make You Hopeful
Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash

The Lord Of The Rings is a wonderful classic.

I watched the first movie in the trilogy in 2003 when the last film came out. While everything amazed me, it was the scenes with Gollum and his greed and the subsequent destruction because of the precious ring that really stayed with me.

Looking back, the entire series contains such gem-like life lessons that really put things to perspective.

5 quotes that have really stood against the flow of time and have helped achieve hope in life are mentioned below.

But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass

This sentence is so relevant, particularly during the harsh time of pandemic and social isolation.

In 2020, the entire idea of normal life has gone missing. As a social person who loves going out to bars and hanging out with my friends, I have been staying inside my parent’s house for the past 6 months.

Other than a few fleeting interactions in the grocery store, and in the neighborhood, I have barely interacted with a real human, other than my parents.

However, despite the difficult times, the hope that the world and life as we know of will once return to normal and I will be able to go back to the college campus has kept me holding on. This has helped me to not spiral out of control and stay optimistic.

Even though it feels like the world is crumbling, I know that it will be alright someday.

What to do

Find one thing that matters the most to you and hold on to it, tightly. It could be a person, an activity, a building, or a book. Anything that makes you hopeful for the future and allow that to become your anchor.

Look in the past and find an incident where you overcome a difficult time. Use that for inspiration to fight the current difficult time. This can help you realize that you have the needed skills to overcome difficulties.

Also, your focus on the parts that you can control and ignore the bits you cannot control.

It is useless to meet revenge with revenge: it will heal nothing

When we feel hurt, we want to return the pain to the person who has wronged us.

At that moment, it feels that the pain would disappear if we avenge the pain we have experienced. However, it rarely works.

Surrounding yourself with negativity and working towards revenge rarely leads to any benefit. As mentioned in a study, revenge can lead to depression and reduced life satisfaction in the individual.

What to do

Engage in Mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation is a form of mental practice that involves focusing on thoughts and bodily sensations without reacting to them.

Before reacting, engage in the 4–7–8 breathing exercise. It is another favorite way to calm down. You are supposed to breathe in for 4 seconds, followed by 7 seconds of holding in and 8 seconds of letting the air out.

Writing down your anger in a diary or verbally venting out to a friend could be a great method too.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind -Gandhi

It’s the job that’s never started as takes the longest to finish

This is a brilliant quote about the evils of procrastinating.

Even though it is very hard to take the first jump in any area, once you do that, the journey afterward becomes much smoother.

I have loved writing since I was a child. I remember writing my first story about fairies and magic when I was 9 years old. My dream was to publish at least one book before I hit adulthood.

However, it did not turn out like that. My fear of failure stopped me in my path of writing. Every time I would plan to start writing in my notebook, I would procrastinate till no work would be done.

As a result, I'm 23 and yet to start writing a book.

What to do

Do not fret about the quality of the work. Just start working.

It will lead to 2 things. You can always come back to the beginning and improve your work later on. This is true with writing. Secondly, you will improve as you will go ahead, doing the work. Sometimes the journey is more important than the end result.

In order to overcome procrastination, I usually follow the following steps.

Figure out why I am procrastinating. This requires me to be with my thoughts and understand myself better.

After I have understood the reason, I try to find the solution to that.

Making a timetable helps me be more productive.

Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well. -Mark Twain

That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo and it’s worth fighting for

This dialogue has a lot of personal significance.

The cases of police brutality, violence against women and minorities, stigma about mental health, cruelty against animals are some of the several reasons that have made me pessimistic about human beings.

This pessimism about the human race can make the world a terrible place to live in. As mentioned in a post by psychology today, pessimism can increase vulnerabilities for heart disease and several other physical and mental health conditions.

However, as the quote mentions, there exists goodness in the world as well.

It is evident in the form of people coming out in support of BLM. When George Floyd was murdered, thousands of people stood for him on the streets. When a woman in India was brutally raped, millions protested peacefully to get her justice.

Even though there is so much pain in the world, the human species continue to do wonders that make me not lose my hope in humanity entirely.

What to do

During the lockdown, I have started keeping a gratitude journal. I write down my thoughts and the things I am really grateful for. This has really helped me deal with stress and increase positivity in my life, during this difficult time.

Other than this, engaging in community-level institutions can significantly induce hope and optimism. Volunteer at a local camp. Work at a pet clinic. The possibilities are endless.

Have patience. Go where you must go, and hope!

This wonderful sentence carries the message of hope and patience.

In this hustle culture, patience is the last thing on people's mind. Internet and technology have made instant gratification at our fingertips.

I noticed that I was getting stressed out by all the work and extracurricular activities during my undergrad. Ironically, I was still lamenting about the work I was not doing. I felt tired when I was doing the work and guilty when I was not. However, when I would finish the work, it would make me feel good about myself.

It took me weeks before I realized that I was on the breaking point. I was crying most of the nights. My body was literally sore.

What to do

Meditation and self-reflection are the two things I practiced.

Developing task lists with an ample amount of time of break time is another great way to develop patience.

Research has suggested that making yourself wait for a little while getting rewards can lead to happiness in long run. Therefore, taking a little extra time of the day to do the activity you would normally rush through (breakfast) could be a great habit to include in your daily schedule.

Final Thoughts

I have been a die-hard fan of the Lord of the Rings series since I was a teenager.

I have read the books several times. It was only during the last re-reading session that I realized how wonderfully insightful some of the dialogues are.

Applying these lessons from the book series to your life can be greatly challenging. It is easier to stay the way you are and not make any change. Changes can be scary and we tend to crave stability in our lives.

But sometimes what it takes is just one step in the right direction and the battle is half won.

“Sometimes the one thing you need for growth is the one thing you are afraid to do.” ― Shannon L. Alder

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About the Creator

Jjyoti

24. Full-time post-grad student. Part-time writer.

Support me: https://ko-fi.com/jjyoti

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