While I cannot call myself an avid fan of animes, I can say I have seen quite a number of them, and for that, I think I am, at least, an anime enthusiast. In my own rights, so to speak.
Around here, when the word, anime, is mentioned, most people easily think of Naruto. I might not really be able to say why it is so but my best guess would be that Naruto has been around for quite some time and it has an amazing storyline from which many other animes draw inspiration. I have my place in that bandwagon, too because Naruto happens to be my favourite anime. Though there are also others like Fate: Stay Night, Fate: Unlimited Blade Works, Kuroko no Basuke, Death Note, and some others which I can't remember right now, that rank high in my shelf. Still yet, Naruto remains my favourite.
Apart from the fact that the series starts out by following the story of a love quadrangle (if that's a thing, though 😂) between Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata, I love the way the characters mature with time and have the plot split into other subplots great subplots revolving around themes such as family, friendship, sacrifice, jealousy, betrayal, amongst others. But the most outstanding conflict in Naruto is the struggle between the whole ninjas of Hidden Villages against the dreaded Akatsuki group whose one-time leader, Nagato, sought to capture the all-powerful nine-tailed demon fox's power to create the Infinite Genjutsu.
The Infinite Genjutsu is a sort of global mind illusion where people live as if there was no war, suffering or pain in the world. While it sounds like a good thing, there is a sinister part to it. There is no room for people's freewill. People are unable to think for themselves, and they only have to believe what the Akatsuki wants them to believe. For this reason, Ninjas from all the Hidden Villages unite to make sure that the Akatsuki group does not succeed with their plan.
Now, that takes us to the real purpose of this topic.
Some months back, those of us that are conversant with the crypto world will remember how tweets by Elon Musk dictated the course of the crypto market. Whenever he posted something in support of Bitcoin, there would be an uptrend in the market. Subsequently, it was the other way round whenever he posted something negative about it. Arguably, Elon Musk's tweets paved the way for the bearish market that started in May earlier this year.
That got me thinking: why? How could one man's tweet wield so much influence over a global market? Then it made sense to me why the Ninjas in Naruto kicked against the Akatsuki's Infinite Genjutsu plan.
It is very pathetic that a good number of people in the world today have no idea what feats they are capable of achieving when they listen to their minds. Self doubt has eaten so deep into their mentality such that they are afraid, unable to think for themselves, make vital decisions for themselves or even live their lives doing what they love. Look around, you will see that it is teeming with individuals suffering from identity crises.
Most people have actually based their lives on the premises of other people's opinions. Especially those of celebrities or famous persons. The truth, though, is that you cease to be a complete human being the moment you let others think for you. You become a second tier human, a mindless zombie.
Nature has designed it that every human should have an equal chance at figuring out the world. This is why each human is born with a mind of their own. When you leave that quest for others to accomplish in your stead, it simply shows that you do not have a mind of yours or you simply do not know how to put yours to work.
I'm not saying you should not be welcoming of ideas and opinions of others but I'm saying you should not be swallowing everything hook, line and sinker. Also, learn to bring yours to the table, too. We are sentient beings. We are supposed to compare and contrast our ideas and opinions with those of others so as to fine-tune a conclusive judgement that will be beneficial for everyone. That is how the world gets better, diversity in perspectives.
Remember that the world cannot be correctly seen in black and white. You need to start believing in yourself that your voice matters, and that you also have what it takes to be a role model. It is all in your mind, and you have to take charge of it.
