kung fu panda

it's funny how this movie has repeatedly enticed me both as a kid and as an adult.

to this day, i wholeheartedly believe kung fu panda is one of the best trilogies of all time.

arguably the best of all time.

it's one that i have to rewatch ritually every once in a while, more than any i have seen, to fulfill both the kid and the adult inside me.

one of its brilliant moments, funnily enough, lies in this page from poor charlie's almanack, which i have printed and hung in my office.

i hang it there to remind myself how easy it is to stop appreciating the little things, and especially what we already have.

i want to live every day knowing that i appreciate the love of my friends, that i can find joy in something as simple as a good cup of tea with someone i care about, that i have one of the best jobs ever with the best partners.

charlie's whole book somehow keeps circling back to one quiet idea: most of life's problems come from forgetting what you already have. it's the spine that holds the rest of his advice up.

now, there is this quote in kung fu panda where ping said to po:

"you got me, you got kung fu, and you got noodles"

ping said this to po when po was at his most lost -- right after po learned he was adopted, when everything about who he was suddenly felt uncertain.

it reminded po of what he had, telling him he didn't need to look far for what's truly important.

and it essentially translates to:

• you have your family and friends around you, people who love you regardless (surround yourself with the love of friends and family).
• you have your purpose, something you are deeply passionate about and spend most of your time on (charlie's career advice).
• you have your small joys, the simple things that make a day good (have low expectations and a sense of humor).

what else do you really need?

so somehow, the life advice of arguably the best businessman in the world aligns with a noodle-selling goose to his son who happens to be a panda who does kung fu.

i rest my case.

*on my flight to san francisco, my ipad is packed with a korean rom com series and kung fu panda, life is good