What You Admire Is Within You: Lessons From Anime For Weebs

What you admire is within you⠀

As an overweight under-achieving child without much going for him I'd escape through Goku and his adventures. I'd dream of getting stronger and having the power to overcome any obstacle, the power to become a Super Saiyan.

In my early adult years not much changed from those circumstances. Still fat, but now I smoked, drank, drugged, and spent a good deal of each day squandering and living vicariously through my fictional characters.

It eventually clicked one day that what I was watching on TV was a part of my soul reflecting back at me. They say that what you hate is within you, but what you admire is also in you. I started to realise that, and my transformation began.

From that day forward I started to act upon my life philosophy, now known to you all as Be More Shonen. The philosophy that the characters we admire on the screen are trying to tell us something about ourselves, that they can be an unlimited well of inspiration, that their stories reflect our stories and together we can write a good one.

Since then I've quit all substances, got a 2:1 in my degree, made an amazing group of like-minded friends, found the other half I was always looking for, started a successful business, and represented my country at the World Cosplay Summit.

I've been told that people now look up to me, that I'm the real life Goku. And as flattering as that is it simply isn't true. I'm not the real life Goku, I'm the only Chris 'Cosplay' Minney.

The character Goku showed me what I value most; courage, friendship, inner strength, and the desire for constant self-improvement. Thank you Dragon Ball for giving me the courage to finally be myself, it's certainly paid off and I couldn't feel more blessed <3⠀
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Be More Shonen